ABSTRACT 
 
 
 
 
Title of Dissertation: AN EXPLORATION OF SELECTED VOCAL 
WORKS BY GERMAINE TAILLEFERRE 
(1892-1983)  
  
 Zachary Bryant, Doctor of Musical Arts in Solo 
Voice, 2022 
  
Dissertation directed by: Kevin Short, Associate Professor of Voice & 
Opera, School of Music 
 
 
 
French composer and pianist Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983) is commonly known as 
the sole female member of the French music collective Les Six, however her prolific career and 
abundance of compositions encompass a range of artistic endeavors and compositional expertise 
beyond this customary title. Important primary sources detailing her inspirations, compositional 
philosophies and artistic insights include a short, self-dictated memoir, letters, contemporary 
articles, critical reviews, interviews and music scores. Many of her manuscripts have remained 
unpublished or lost amid the destruction of World War II. And though a large number of her 
works enjoyed performances during her lifetime on Radio-France, archive recordings are 
unavailable to the public and subsequent performances have been rare by both French and 
international institutions. The vocal works of Tailleferre therefore offer fertile ground for further 
analysis, exploration and consideration for standard repertoire and academic discussion. 
  
The first performance event features a lecture introducing the life and works of Germain 
Tailleferre, similar in format and content to a higher education song or opera literature lecture. 
The discussion includes biographical information, compositional characteristics and analysis and 
performances of two song sets and operatic excerpts. The second and third performance events 
share the U.S. premiere of the complete operatic cycle Quatre op?ras bouffes: petite histoire 
lyrique de l?art fran?ais, du style galant au style m?chant. The Part 1 performance features La 
fille d?op?ra and Le bel ambitieux and the Part 2 performance features La pauvre Eug?nie and M. 
Petitpois ach?te un ch?teau.   
Supplemental materials accompanying this dissertation project include video recordings 
of each performance event and the complete supertitle files created with original translations and 
utilized during the performances of Quatre op?ras bouffes. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
AN EXPLORATION OF SELECTED VOCAL WORKS BY  
GERMAINE TAILLEFERRE (1892-1983) 
 
 
 
by 
 
 
Zachary Franklin Bryant 
 
 
 
 
 
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the  
University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment 
of the requirements for the degree of 
Doctor of Musical Arts 
2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Advisory Committee: 
Professor Kevin Short, Chair 
Doctor Merce?de?s Baillargeon  
Professor Bradford Gowen 
Doctor Lester Green 
Doctor Mayron Tsong 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
? Copyright by 
Zachary Franklin Bryant 
2022 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Acknowledgments
I owe inestimable thanks to my community of mentors, scholars, colleagues,
friends and family for the constant support and inspiration I have received while curating
this project. Professor Kevin Short has given more than I ever could have imagined of his
time, expertise and mentorship, and I would be fortunate to exhibit in my future
endeavors even a fraction of his artistry, pedagogy and consideration for his students. Dr.
Lester Green has been an inspiring creative force helping to synthesize the technique,
beauty and meaning of our art form. Dr. Maria Beliaeva Solomon and Theavy Marie Din
were instrumental to the significant feat of crafting a full opera libretto translation. Dr.
Mayron Tsong and Professor Bradford Gowen provided continuous support, words of
encouragement and much of their time along the journey of this project. Dr. Merc?d?s
Baillargeon openly and generously joined this team and helped see this project to its final
fruition. Joshua Thompson gave an incredible amount of his time, advice and academic
acumen to successfully navigate each step of this process. My castmates and
collaborators brought these works to life with such joy and dedication, thank you to
Alexander Kostadinov, Rhiannon Vaughn, Morghan Pastrana, Melissa Mino, Allysa
Packard, Denique Isaac, Madeline Miskie-Jaeger, Thomas Lloyd, David Starry, Christian
Simmons, Henrique Carvalho and Joshua Bates.
And absolutely none of this would have been possible without the love and
support of Sarah Bassinger, whom I?m lucky enough to call my wife, partner and
teammate.
ii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ???????????????????????????. ii
Table of Contents ???????????????????????????...iii
Chapter 1: Introduction ?????????????????????????.. 1
Chapter 2: Lecture Recital?The Life & Career Of Germaine Tailleferre ?????? 4
Chapter 3: Quatre op?ras bouffes ????????????????????.? 20
Chapter 4: Opportunities In Higher Education Vocal Studies ??????????.. 34
Chapter 5: Conclusion ?????????????????????????.. 39
Appendix A: Program #1 ????????????????????????..40
Appendix B: Program #2 ????????????????????????.. 41
Appendix C: Program #3 ????????????????????????.. 42
Appendix D: Quatre op?ras bouffes Full Libretto ???????????????43
Bibliography ?????????????????????????????. 79
iii
Chapter 1
Introduction
Germaine Tailleferre has long been recognized for her membership in the early
20th century French composer collective, Les Six. Branded by music critic Henri Collet,
members Francis Poulenc, Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Louis
Durey and Germaine Tailleferre shared notable inspiration from Erik Satie and Jean
Cocteau while being viewed as arbiters of a French musical movement in response to the
late Romantic musical styles of Germany and France. Though each individual composer
of Les Six contributed to the evolution of French m?lodie and French opera, academic
discussion of French vocal music during this era often focuses on Francis Poulenc while
occasionally mentioning Milhaud and Auric. Further research, discussion and
performance of the works of Germaine Tailleferre would be beneficial to our
understanding of the divergent branches of French vocal and instrumental music during
the early- and mid-20th century. Tailleferre?s oeuvre includes works for voice, piano, solo
instrument, chamber ensemble, chorus and orchestra and offers an array of musical
forms, from solo works and chamber sonatas to numerous operas, ballets, concerti, film
scores and radio scores. Her choice of narratives and poetry are often described as
decidedly feminist, offering the opportunity to balance historically male-dominant
discussions of French composers through further study of Tailleferre?s compositions.
Repertoire for these projects is representative of the two major areas of vocal
literature study common in academic programs: solo art song and opera. Pancarte pour
une porte d'entr?e (1959) and Trois Chansons de Jean Tardieu (1977) are two sets of
1
French art songs that offer vantage points for Tailleferre?s various styles and
compositional influences. Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e exhibits clear influence from
cabaret, Parisian street music and atonal styles and includes texts that occasionally
reference the roles of women and femininity. Trois Chansons de Jean Tardieu provides a
more tonal and distilled compositional style portraying innocence and a child-like
curiosity and optimism. Quatre op?ras bouffes: petite histoire lyrique de l?art fran?ais,
du style galant au style m?chant (Four comic operas: a short lyrical history of French art,
from the gallant style to the unrefined style) (1955) is a series of four one-act chamber
operas with a libretto by Tailleferre?s niece, Denise Centore. Written originally for radio
broadcast, each of these 20-minute chamber operas parodies the style of previous French
opera composers, including the baroque style of Jean-Philippe Rameau, the Romantic
comedy style of Gioachino Rossini, the naturalist style of Gustave Charpentier and the
operetta style of Jacques Offenbach. These operas provide fascinating context for the
evolution of French opera in the mid-20th century. Additionally, the scale and demands of
Quatre op?ras bouffes offer fertile ground for singers in training to refine performance
practice and understanding of contrasting operatic styles, making these works worthy of
consideration for university voice and opera programs.
The oeuvre of Germaine Tailleferre, demonstrating unique integrations of modern
and classical stylistic elements, invites performers and academics to consider the
immense value of studying, exploring and performing such complex and thoughtful
works. The United States premieres and performances of a number of her vocal works in
this project are a step toward further incorporation of Tailleferre's compositions in the
2
field of classical music. May our current strides lead to a richer and more profound
experience of our cherished art forms.
3
Chapter 2
Lecture Recital?The Life & Career Of Germaine Tailleferre
Early Life & Career (1904-1917)
Germaine Tailleferre (originally Taillefesse) began piano studies with her mother,
contrary to the vehement objections of her father.1 Her father?s refusal to allow Germaine
to pursue musical ambitions would temporarily lead her away from the Paris
Conservatory to a convent school.2 Her studies at the Paris Conservatory, under the
auspices of such influential French composers as Charles-Marie Widor, Gabriel Faur?,
Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Charles Koechlin, earned her numerous top prizes in
harmony, counterpoint, fugue and piano accompaniment, more prizes in fact than any of
her classmates.3
It was at the Paris Conservatory where she would meet life-long colleagues and
future Les Six collaborators Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger and Georges Auric. With
the rising conflicts of the First World War in 1914, many Conservatory opportunities
were postponed or suspended, including the esteemed Prix de Rome. Though continuing
her studies through Charles-Marie Widor?s weekly compositional class, Tailleferre
supplemented her artistic explorations with a budding new group of young composers,
musicians and poets gathered by Darius Milhaud. Nicknamed ?chez Darius,? these
1 Robert Shapiro, ?Germaine Tailleferre? in Les Six: The French Composers and Their Mentors Jean
Cocteau and Erik Satie, (London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2011), 451.
2 Laura Hamer, Female Composers, Conductors, Performers: Musiciennes of Interwar France, 1919-1939,
(New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018), 95.
3 Hamer, Female Composers, 95.
4
evenings encouraged creative discussions as well as casual school chatter, all of which
served a welcome respite from the looming threats of war.4
In her earliest compositions during this time, Tailleferre showed remarkable
acumen and understanding of the complexities of various musical styles through her
imitative works and skillful borrowing of elements from her mentors' compositions. Her
works showcased many of the style characteristics of the fin de si?cle, such as salon
performance pieces, including reductions and transcriptions of Stravinsky?s ballets and
other orchestral works for four-hand piano.5 As Robert Shapiro describes, ?Tailleferre?s
music, especially during [the 1910s and early 1920s], reflects the language of the masters
she revered, her French forefathers, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Louis Couperin,
Jean-Baptiste Lully, and the Italians Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti and [it] made no
apologies for such affinities.?6 Most of her works in this era were for piano, her primary
instrument, with the exception of a chamber work for violin and piano and compositions
for harp, greatly influenced by harpist and Conservatory mentor Mme. Caroline Tardieu.
Representative works of this time period include Impromptu (1909) and Romance (1913),
which share the popular miniature forms found in late 19th century piano pieces and
feature borrowed melodies from Faur?, impressionist elements, imitation and direct
quotations.
4 Laura Mitgang, ?Germaine Tailleferre: Before, During, and After Les Six,? The Musical Woman: An
International Perspective 2 (1984-1985): 180.
5 Melissa Cummins, ?Use of Parody Techniques in Jacques Offenbach?s Op?rettes and Germaine
Tailleferre?s ?Du Style Galant au Style M?chant?? (PhD diss., University of Kansas, 2017), 127.
6 Robert Shapiro, Germaine Tailleferre: A Bio-Bibliography, (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1994), 9.
5
Les Six Career (1917-1935)
A chance meeting in 1917 with prominent French composer Erik Satie, a day
which Tailleferre later deemed "Lucky Sunday," gained her attention in the innovative
artistic circles of Paris and would lead to career-defining collaborations with other young
promising composers. Satie, composer for the scandalously successful Parade (1917) and
collaborator with Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso and Serge Diaghilev, overheard
Tailleferre?s piano duet Jeux de plein air (1917) and declared her at once his ?fille
musicale.?7 He included Tailleferre in his heralded new collection of decidedly French
composers, Les Nouveaux Jeunes, which included Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger,
Darius Milhaud, Louis Durey, Francis Poulenc and Germaine Tailleferre. Satie featured
these promising young composers in a series of concerts accompanying art exhibits in a
Montparnasse studio, an event he deemed musique d?ameublement.
This group would come to be praised as Les Six by music critic Henri Collet in his
1920 articles written for Comoedia. This new musical moniker was a clear response to
other nationalist music collectives such as The Russian Five.8 Though few aesthetic
similarities were shared among the composers of Les Six, the group?s intentions were
distilled in Cocteau?s Le Coq et l?Arlequin (1918), a manifesto describing in part the new
anti-romantic and anti-impressionist style of music that turned the attention of the young
composers to the sounds of everyday French life.9 As Cocteau hints in the manifesto,
?... while Debussy was delicately expanding his feminine grace, displaying St?phane
Mallarm? in ?Le Jardin de l?infante,? Satie was continuing along his little classical route...
Satie rarely looks at the painters and does not read the poets, but he loves to live where
7 Hamer, Female Composers, 97.
8 Hamer, Female Composers, 98.
9 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 129.
6
life rumbles; he instinctively knows the good taverns...?10 The international fascination
with Les Six, coupled with her distinct compositional skills, garnered acclaim and career
opportunities that were largely unparalleled for most women composers of the early 20th
century. Reflecting on her time with the prominent composer collective and as a female
composer in the early 20th century, Tailleferre states, ?No [I do not believe women have
less talent than men]. I know several gifted young ladies, but terrible difficulties have
remained in this field, one does not trust women, no one helps them. And then? the
sentimental life of a woman, her home, her children, prevent the fulfillment of vocations.
It is nothing new? [I was] tremendously lucky to have been adopted by [Les Six], I
worked, lived, created in a marvelous ambiance.?11
Tailleferre?s compositional style during the height of Les Six is characterized by
incorporation of modernist techniques and greater exploration of her earlier neoclassicism
in expanded forms. Bitonality and polytonality are introduced in momentary instances,
for example in Jeux de plein air (1917) where one hand plays all white keys while the
other hand plays all black keys. Similar momentary infusions of modernist techniques
occur with appearances of modal and pentatonic melodies. Formal structures are also
cleverly reimagined, such as her variations of sonata form that forgo common harmonic
relationships between sections and present thematic material unexpectedly and out of
traditional order. Important works sharing some of these influences include her two
contributions to Cocteau?s production of Les Mari?s de la Tour Eiffel, the ?Quadrille? and
?Valse des d?p?ches.? Tailleferre also continued to distill elements of past composers in
what she described as a neoclassical style. Describing her process for some of these
10 Jean Cocteau, Le Coq et l?Arlequin, (London: The Egoist Press, 1920), 19.
11 Martine Cadieu, ?Musiciens d?aujourd?hui: Duo avec. . .Germaine Tailleferre,? Nouvelles Litt?raires,
March 15, 1962.
7
works, she commented, ?Having recently very much attached myself to old music, I
colored, here and there, my little work with faded tones taken from old palettes, without
thinking for one second of an evolution in my temperament and my instincts.?12 Of her
ballet Le Marchand d'oiseaux (1923), one critic notes that, ?Some see Bach in it, others
Scarlatti, Rameau or Chabrier?the composer claims consciously to have made many
references.?13 One further example is Tailleferre?s Piano Concerto in D Major (1924), of
which she states, ?The classic form which I have used in this work may be regarded as in
a way a reaction against Impressionism and Orientalism, and as an indication of an
attempt to find an expression purely musical, exempt from all literary implications.?14
This period of Tailleferre?s career is also highlighted by her first ventures into vocal
writing. Compositions for voice during this period include Nocturno-Fox for two
Baritone Voices and Ensemble (1928), an op?ra comique Zoula?na (1931), numerous
songs for voice and piano, and her first song cycle Six chansons fran?aises (1929). The
Six chansons fran?aises are especially notable for their feminist perspective on love and
sexuality, with poetry celebrating female independence and rebellion against moral and
sexual standards expected from women.
Gender Bias
A recurring theme in the exploration of Tailleferre?s career is gender bias and the
resistance endured as a female composer in the early- and mid-20th century. As she
describes in an interview with Laura Mitgang in 1982,
12 Mitgang, The Musical Woman, 193.
13 Mitgang, The Musical Woman, 193.
14 Mitgang, The Musical Woman, 193.
8
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I married a well-known American who went mad. The first
thing he did was to buy me a player piano. And then the second husband, when I
was writing the Cantate du Narcissse with Paul Val?ry, which was a very
important thing for me, he constantly prevented me from working. Perhaps it is
jealousy because men never like it that women? I began to be famous rather
quickly because of the Groupe des Six, and so that annoyed them. I have had a
very difficult life, you know. Only I do not like to talk about it, because I write
happy music as a release. But anyway, things were always against me. Whatever
happened, it was against me.15
Indeed, neither Tailleferre?s first or second husband seemed to support her
musical career, similar to the contrary force of her father during childhood. Her first
husband, Ralph Barton, was a successful American caricature artist who was famously
jealous of Tailleferre?s success, refusing to ever be considered, ?Monsieur Tailleferre.?16
This first marriage inspired much of the marital unhappiness depicted in the Six chansons
fran?aises. Laura Mitgang comments, ?[The Six chansons fran?aises] reflect her
dwindling faith in marriage. Bored and restless, Barton was seeing other women.
According to Tailleferre, he needed a more exciting life of arguments, tears and
reconciliations, which she did not provide. After growing up in a home full of marital
tensions, she thought it best to remain conciliatory. This only aggravated Barton
further.?17 Tailleferre?s marriage with Barton would end abruptly in 1931 after a physical
altercation, threat of gun violence and subsequent miscarriage.
Tailleferre?s second marriage would mirror many of the tragedies experienced
with her earlier partner. Her relationship with Jean Legeat, a young French lawyer,
developed into marriage by coercion due to Tailleferre?s pregnancy with their child.
Legeat was similarly jealous of Tailleferre?s success as well as physically abusive.
15 Laura Mitgang, ?One of Les Six is Still at Work,? New York Times, May 23, 1982, 25.
16 Germaine Tailleferre, ?Memoires ? l?Emporte-Pi?ce,? Receuillis et annot?s par Fr?d?ric Robert. Revue
Internationale de Musique Fran?aise 19, (February 1986): 54.
17 Mitgang, ?Germaine Tailleferre,? 197.
9
Tailleferre describes in her memoir, ?I worked in tears, in the middle of scenes of an
unbelievable violence? he did not hide it that he would never put up with playing the
?Monsieur Tailleferre?. Exactly like Barton.?18
Tailleferre experienced further diminution based on her gender, whether
intentional or unintentional, from her colleagues and critics, as seen in the following
excerpts. From her close friend Milhaud: ?Tailleferre is a delightful musician. . .She
produces little, but each work is remarkably mise au point [well developed]. Her music
has the great merit of being without pretension; it is most attractive because it is sincere.
It is really the music of a young girl in the loveliest sense of the word.?19
From her colleague Fran?is Poulenc:
How lovely she was in 1917. . .How sweet and gifted she was! She still is, but I
sometimes regret that, through an excess of modesty, she was never able to
exploit all the possibilities in herself as could, for example, someone like Marie
Laurencin [a popular French Cubist painter], who knew how to extract the most
from her feminine genius. Be that as it may, [Tailleferre] made a most charming
and precious contribution to music and one that always delights me.20
In reaction, Tailleferre dismissed many of the qualifiers attached to her music:
But what difference does it make? The essential thing is that it be music. I do not
see any reason why I should not write what I feel. If it gives the impression of
being feminine, that is fine. I was never tormented by explanations. I tried to do
the best I could, but I never asked myself if it was feminine or not. If it is music, it
is music.21
And lastly, Robert Shapiro summarizes the issues found within Tailleferre?s own artistic
circles:
Tailleferre was required to fight against the traditional assumption that men only
were capable of writing important and timeless musical works. Although women
18 Germaine Tailleferre, Interview, 1982.
19 Darius Milhaud, ?La Musique fran?aise depuis la guerre,? Etudes (Paris: Editions Claude Aveline, 1927),
18.
20 Francis Poulenc, Entretiens avec Claude Rostand (Paris: Ren? Julliard, 1954), 42.
21 Mitgang, ?One of Les Six,? 25.
10
have been readily accepted as musical performers, they are often merely
perceived as the glorified servants of music.22
Middle Career (1935-1946)
The years spanning the conflicts of the Second World War brought many
obstacles to Tailleferre?s compositional pursuits as well as fortuitous partnerships with
many notable artists. She moved frequently between New York, Paris, Grasse and
Switzerland on account of Jean Legeat?s failing health and wartime instabilities. She
published an article in the 1942 issue of Modern Music rejecting German occupation,
speaking against anti-Semtism and describing the hardships placed upon and importance
of artists under tyrannical authority.23 She revealed in an interview with Robert Shaprio
that many of her manuscripts were destroyed or lost during the occupation, when her
home in Grasse was commandeered by a German officer and her papers were used as fuel
for the fireplace.24
Despite intense setbacks, Tailleferre managed to build partnerships with leading
artists of the time and raise her daughter, Fran?oise Lageat. New and continued
collaborations with Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, Artur Rubinstein, Pablo Picasso, Sergei
Diaghilev, Paul Val?ry, Paul Claudel, Jean Tardieu and Igor Markevitch would last the
rest of her career and help sustain her through the horrific personal traumas of her second
marriage. Tailleferre and Markevitch co-orchestrated the Concerto for Violin and
Orchestra (1937) and she and Val?ry worked together closely to craft the Cantate du
Narcisse for baritone, soprano, treble chorus, strings and timpani. The evolution of the
Cantate particularly displays Tailleferre?s keen compositional acumen, in which the same
22 Shapiro, ?Germaine Tailleferre,? 261.
23 Mitgang, ?Germaine Tailleferre,? 201.
24 Shapiro, Les Six, 266.
11
text, ensemble and work in its entirety is set in two different stylistic versions, one in the
neoclassical style and the other in the impressionist style.
Her exploration and expansion of genres similarly showcases the development of
her compositional focus during this time period. Her contribution to the Paris Exhibition
of 1937 included a further step into the operatic form with a one-act comic opera, Le
Marin de Bolivar. She also ventured into compositions for film, leading to numerous
scores for the screen, such as Provincia (1937), Le petit chose (1938), Bretagne (1940),
Les deux timides (1941) and Co?ncidences (1946), among others.
Late Career (1947-1983)
After years living in the United States, which included celebrated performances of
her works in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, Tailleferre returned to France and soon
embarked on a lasting relationship with Radio-France, who commissioned many of her
later compositions for radio plays, orchestral works and operas. Jean Tardieu, French
writer, son of Paris Conservatory harp professor Caroline Tardieu and friend of
Tailleferre, brokered this fruitful collaboration as head programmer for the major media
organization.25 Works commissioned by Tardieu included incidental music for radio
plays, scores for documentaries and original works for broadcast.26 Such a collaboration
for radio compositions capitalized on the rise in importance of radio broadcast during the
war. Radio-Londres, Radio-Paris, Radio-Vichy and the ?la guerre des ondes? illustrated
the significant position of radio broadcasts in both wartime and post-war France and its
25 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 133.
26 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 145.
12
power in shaping national narratives.27 Radio-France?s choice commissions and cultural
programming worked in part toward uniting the people of France after years of division.
This period represents the largest proportion of Tailleferre's compositional output
as well as her longest instructional positions teaching and accompanying at the Schola
Cantorum and ?cole alsacienne. During this time, she composed at least 31 scores for
radio, television and film, media which prompted experimentation with new formal
structures. Such media broadcasts required brief compositional forms, episodic
segmentation, prescribed narrative lengths and use of chamber orchestras. These radio
commissions also comprise nearly the entirety of Tailleferre?s operatic oeuvre, including
Il etait un petit navire (1951), Quatre op?ras bouffes (1955), La petite sir?ne (1957) and
Le ma?tre (1959). Interestingly, La petite sir?ne and the Sonate for Solo Clarinet (1957)
alone represent Tailleferre?s experimentation with serialism. Of these experiences
Tailleferre explained that, ?I never locked myself into a system, I despise [using a set
style]. [I only used polytonality] when my instinct dictated the choice,?28 and ?My music
doesn?t interest me anymore and twelve-tone music, which attracts me, represents such a
task that I no longer have the strength to undertake it. It would almost be like wanting to
express myself in Chinese! It is a bit too late to learn.?29 Tailleferre continued composing
into her 80s, learning new forms and styles, including wind ensemble composition,
teaching young musicians and, fortunately, providing insight into her artistic perspective
through her memoir and interviews.
27 Daisy Fancourt, The Role Of Radio In Wartime France,
https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/resistance-and-exile/french-resistance/role-of-radio-in-wartime-france-x266b
28 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 141.
29 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 140.
13
Numerous works for voice are represented in this era, including Paris
sentimentale (1949), La rue chagrin (1955), Concerto des Vaines Paroles for Baritone
(1956), Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e (1961), L'adieu du cavalier (1963) in honor of
Francis Poulenc, Trois chansons de Jean Tardieu (1977) and Concerto de la fidelit?
(1981). These vocal works and her operas contain many of the hallmarks of Tailleferre?s
mature compositional style. Imitative and neoclassical techniques are acutely employed
alongside modernist tonalities and avant-garde poetry and narratives. Brief pieces
continue the aesthetic advocated by the Les Six collective and formal musical and dance
structures are recalled, reimagined and playfully distorted.
General Style Characteristics
Through her self-described neoclassical style, Taillefere composed music for
ballet, orchestra, opera, film, television, solo instruments, voice and her major instrument,
piano. Shapiro describes her music as, ?vastly innovative, [revealing] a constant
originality. Well crafted, intriguing, melodious, substantive, sophisticated, and
emotional.?30 Her earliest works exemplify the roots of imitation that would grow into
neoclassical expertise, including reductions and transcriptions of works by Stravinsky
and Impromptu (1909) and Romance (1913) for solo piano with direct quotes and
borrowed elements from Faur? and Debussy. Melissa Cummins describes that, ?Her
ability to realize the figured bass lines in stylistically appropriate renditions meant that
she had a solid knowledge of the composers? styles and was therefore able to replicate
them? This ability colored her original compositions, as she often created works in the
30 Shapiro, Les Six, 261.
14
styles of various composers.?31 And as Scott Messing explains, ?The invention of the
terms neoclassicism and new classicism, whatever their semantic fineness, supplied a
convenient code by which composers could put forward aesthetic ideas based upon a
nostalgic evocation of a moribund style.?32
Tailleferre?s 1917 piano duet, Jeux de plein air, which attracted the attention of
Erik Satie, Jean Cocteau and Artur Rubinstein, showcased an additional command of
modernist compositional techniques, including polytonality, with inspirations from
everyday life. This connection with anti-Romantic and anti-Impressionist French music
would influence much of her remaining compositional output. As Sunmie Kim describes,
the music of Tailleferre shares many qualities with that of her Les Six colleagues, such as
?a combination of simplicity influenced by neoclassicism and twentieth century
characteristics such as polytonality, frequent key and meter changes, and independent
piano accompaniment??33
Tailleferre's vocal works incorporate considerable modernist influences, including
surrealist and avant-garde poets, cabaret and street music styles and experimentation with
polytonality, modal melodies and short forms. Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e (1961)
displays such stylistic associations by setting the poetry of nouveau roman, avant-garde
poet Robert Pinget, matching the narrative ambiguity and modern language
deconstruction with musical elements of chromaticism, polytonality, short forms and
musical fragments reminiscent of waltzes and street accordions. Similar
linguistic-musical experiments appear in Trois chansons de Jean Tardieu (1977) as
31 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 136.
32 Scott Messing, ?Polemic as History: The Case of Neoclassicism? in The Journal of Musicology, Volume
9, 4 (Autumn, 1991), 492.
33 Sunmie Kim, ?A Study of Selected Songs of ?Les Six:? Pedagogical Analysis for College Voice Students
in Korea? (Doctor of Education diss., Columbia University, 2006), 157.
15
Tardieu's humorous twists of language are paired with subtly imperfect repetitions,
flirtations with polytonality and the simplicity of children's songs. Her chamber works for
solo voice and operas continue to exhibit her affinity for imitative techniques, including
the cabaret-style "La rue chagrin," two versions of her Cantate du Narcisse in
neoclassical and impressionist styles, and the collection of parody chamber operas,
Quatre op?ras bouffes, each utilizing distilled elements of the great French opera
composers in her own neoclassical compositional language.
Selected Art Songs
Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e (1961)
Tailleferre?s song set Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e (Handbill for an entrance),
commissioned by American soprano Alice Swanson Esty, premiered on March 12, 1961
on Radio-France. The work sets texts by avant-garde modernist French writer Robert
Pinget (1919-1997). Colleague of Samuel Beckett and similarly influenced by ?Theatre
of the Absurd? works, Pinget was closely associated with the nouveau roman movement
of the mid-20th century, characterized by experiments in novel structures, including
reimaginings of chronology, narrative, punctuation and syntax. John Taylor describes the
reconstruction of Pinget?s novels by stating, ?The reader must sift through the facts and
assertions, as if he were the writer constructing the novel. What emerges from the
reader?s imaginative and creative toiling is a vast Human Comedy that Balzac himself
would have appreciated. Yet this Human Comedy of course remains unwritten; it cannot
be read, reread; it exists only in the (fading) imagination and memory of the reader.?34
34 John Taylor, ?Reading Robert Pinget,? Dalkey Archive Press (September 13, 2013),
https://www.dalkeyarchive.com/2013/09/13/reading-robert-pinget/
16
Such ambiguity of narrative, characters and speakers is also evident in the poetry
of Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e. Instead of illustrating a scene or emotion, these
poems infer the existence of a scene or conflict, often providing only fringes of detail or
parameters for context. For example, the opening poem ?Les Chapeaux? features a single
question clearly separated from a larger dialogue, seemingly interrupting an ongoing
conversation about evening plans. ?Must we depart this evening/and leave behind here/as
surety for our heads some old-fashioned hats??35 Tailleferre chooses to repeat this short
poem twice for her song setting, cleverly allowing the listener more opportunities to infer
the narrative elements. Pinget?s poetry also includes misplaced and imperfect rhymes,
including rhymes occurring in the middle of poetic lines, such as in ?D?sinvoluture,?
?Vous n??tes plus que de mauvais augure amie qu?ignorant/j?aimais sous couleur de
m?enfuir/Avec ta chevelure comme un volage/et pour votre c?ur mon go?t de ta
d?sinvoluture.?36
Further analysis of Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e reveals many characteristics
shared with the songs of fellow Les Six composers. Immediately recognizable is the
brevity of the songs, each approximately 1 minute in length. Influences from cabaret and
Parisian street music are evident, such as the raucous waltz of ?Sainte Nitouche? and
billowing repeated piano figures reminiscent of street accordions. The modernist poetry
of Pinget resembles that of other poet choices and her treatment of the text is similarly
inventive. For instance, Tailleferre treats the ending [?] both traditionally and in the
modern manner, setting it both with music and without, clearly influenced in part by the
text setting innovations of one of her mentors, Maurice Ravel. Musical fragments are
35 Germaine Tailleferre, Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e, (Lagny-sur-Marne, France: Musik Fabrik, 2000),
2-3.
36 Tailleferre, Pancarte, 4.
17
repeated and subtly transformed, such as repeated patterns presented with major, minor,
diminished and augmented variations. Melodic material contains a variety of diatonic,
pentatonic and chromatic constructions and the harmonic language remains largely tonal
with Tailleferre?s trademark momentary infusions of polytonality.
Trois Chansons de Jean Tardieu (1977)
Trois Chansons de Jean Tardieu, composed in 1977, sets three poems by
playwright, poet, Radio-France programmer and close friend of Tailleferre, Jean Tardieu.
Similar to Pinget, Tardieu?s works were also influenced by the ?Theatre of the Absurd,?
which inspired Tardieu?s distinctive humor, simplicity and deconstruction of language. As
Guy Sacre describes, ?Ordinarily, what we like and admire in Tardieu is the virtuoso
worker of the language, who dismantles the machinery of our speech and hearing, so
amusingly and cruelly, and sets fire to all the distressing verbal exchange between the
poor creatures that we are, condemned to professing Man?s inanity by means of a few
phonemes??37 In this manner, Tardieu plays with letter order, for example
?R?capitulons/R?catonpilu,? and comically switches suffixes, for example
?locomotivons/locomotivu.?38
Tailleferre?s settings of these poems highlight the simplicity and playfulness of
the poetry through repetitive patterns, similar to the construction of children?s songs.
Narrow melodic patterns of seconds, thirds and fourths repeat in regular two- and
four-measure phrases, as in the opening eight measures of ?R?catonpilu.? This same
37 Guy Sacre, ?Deux Po?mes de Jean Tardieu,? Sym?trie,
https://symetrie.com/en/titles/sacre-deux-poemes-jean-tardieu
38 Germaine Tailleferre, Trois chansons de Jean Tardieu,, (Lagny-sur-Marne, France: Musik Fabrik, 2002),
2.
18
opening song showcases a playful use of tonality as the text ?But the perfect game?? is
accompanied by imperfect octaves that wander apart by minor and major seconds,
revealing a childlike deception or tease from the speaker. The range of the piano displays
similar comic affect beginning with narrow, simple triads and slowly growing distant,
ending four octaves apart. The final text, ?la la la la la la la la la la la,? is laughably
highlighted with an a cappella musical setting, leaving no doubt about the frivolity of the
text and speaker.
?Petite flamme? depicts an honest and innocent hope for comfort and assurance.
The opening piano pattern features an ostinato G below parallel harmonies that double
the melody. This texture increases in density as the text turns to ?night,? ?sleep? and ?the
end of all things.? The simple left hand ostinato pattern changes to lower sonority chords
with added chord tones, creating the ominous, dark environment which the speaker fears
will come in a world without the little flame. The dense texture begins to subside as the
song resolves with a musically hopeful Picardy third.
Lastly, ?L??ternel enfant? portrays a young child proudly practicing courteous
phrases in a continuous stream of consciousness. The piano gestures mirror this juvenile
mood by alternating every beat with major and minor second harmonies, similar to the
unstable motion of a child learning to walk. The melodic material changes tonal center in
measures 15-18 while the piano maintains its original pattern, showcasing a playful and
momentary use of bitonality. The song ends with a characteristic short piano gesture,
dropping down to bass clef for the first time in the song with a tied quarter note over the
final double bar.
19
Chapter 3
Quatre op?ras bouffes
About Quatre op?ras bouffes
Quatre op?ras bouffes was commissioned by Jean Tardieu and
Radiodiffusion-T?l?vision Fran?aise (Radio-France) with music by Germain Tailleferre
and libretto by Denise Centore, Tailleferre's niece. During the post-World War II boom of
household radios, Radio-France began an innovative programming initiative creating
radiophonic art for home audiences, including radio plays, operas and orchestral works.39
Receiving its premiere broadcast in 1955, this cycle of "pocket operas" combines distilled
elements of the great French opera composers with Tailleferre's own neoclassical
compositional language.40 As Tailleferre shares, ?[I have composed for the radio before,]
but I found it much more fun to write my op?ras-bouffes Du style galant au style
m?chant: a faux 18th century [piece], a faux romantic [piece], a faux Offenbach [piece] ?
the most successful, I think, of all these ?in the manner of? [works]?and a faux
naturalistic [piece]...?41 Though each contains a different and unconnected story, each
opera evokes themes of money, love and often sudden and unexpected outcomes. As
Robert Shapiro describes in Germaine Tailleferre: A Bio-Bibliography,
These brief operas perfectly evoke, with virtuosic synthesis, the 18th- and
19th-century style inherent in the operettas of Rameau, Alfred Bruneau, Fran?ois
Boieldieu, Daniel Auber and Gustave Charpentier and are virtually forgotten in
our day; a revival of these gems would undoubtedly enrich the repertoire? That a
revival of them has never materialized is due not only to a simple ignorance of
their existence but also to the fact that the operas invoke a bygone stylistic era and
that such period evocations are often considered lightweight or pretentious? The
39 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 133.
40 Germaine Tailleferre, Quatre op?ras bouffes: R?duction pour voix et piano, (Paris, France: G?rard
Billaudot, 2012), 3.
41 Tailleferre, ?M?moires,? 76.
20
op?ras bouffes? will not escape the next revival of such archaic but compelling
musical fodder.42
The performance history of Quatre op?ras bouffes since its premiere includes a
concert performance in Paris, France in 1962, a staged and recorded performance in
Limoges, France in 2014, a performance of Le bel ambitieux in Yvetot, France in 2016
and a staged and radio performance of M. Petitpois ach?te un ch?teau at the University of
Kansas in 2017.43 This project features the United States premiere of the complete Quatre
op?ras bouffes at the University of Maryland.
La fille d'op?ra
The musical and textual elements of La fille d'op?ra are modeled from the
operatic works of French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). A
praised music theorist, organist and composer, Rameau is recognized in part for
introducing the characteristics of late Baroque harmony to his operas, including
expressive chromaticism, frequent secondary dominant chords and greater use of distant
modulations.44 These harmonic traits are most apparent in the dramatic recitatives of La
fille d'op?ra heightened by chromatic harmonic progressions and distant modulations, as
well as the tragic "Trio de la Bastille? and "Finale." The "Finale" in particular showcases
fascinating secondary dominant harmonic motion which quickly transports tonal centers
at times as frequently as every two measures.
42 Shapiro, Germaine Tailleferre, 269.
43 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 6; l?Op?ra de Limoges, ?Affaire Tailleferre,? November 11 and 13, 2014,
performance recording, 1:42:03, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEvb1NznoLM
44 Robert Canon, Opera (Cambridge Introductions to Music), (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2012), 55.
21
Musical elements common to French Baroque style and featured in Tailleferre's
operatic parody include the French overture, over-dotting and dance forms.45 The opera
opens with the customary binary sections of the French overture form concisely
represented in the slow and stately "Ouverture" and attacca animated introduction of the
lovers in "1. Duo."46 The French Baroque tradition of over-dotting is also found
throughout the score and in both the vocal and orchestral material. This gesture is
employed in many dramatic contexts, including the tragic duet between the lovers, the
anguished forlane of Pouponne and the scheming trio of the inspector, bootmaker and
hairdresser. Dance forms appear throughout the opera, recalling another distinguishing
trait of Rameau and the French Baroque style.47 While a ballet is noticeably absent from
this Rameau-inspired score, possibly due to the radio medium lacking any visual
portrayal of dancing, many of the arias and ensembles utilize traditional dance forms,
including the sarabande, forlane, passacaglia and chaconne.
Further comparisons specific to the musical style of Rameau include trademark
innovations of the composer, such as instrumentation, lyrical recitative and heightened
importance of text. A direct musical reference to Rameau's famous Castor et Pollux
includes the use of bassoon obligato similar to Telaira's Act 1 "Lament," however
Tailleferre twists the meaning of the instrumental obligato from tragic to comedic with
the entrance of the charlatan bootmaker and hairdresser.48 The tragic trios of these two
operas also explore an expressive chromaticism that heightens their dramatic conflicts.
Tailleferre's instrumentation continues to emulate French Baroque style through the
45 Matthew Boyden, The Rough Guide to Opera, 3rd ed, (London: Rough Guides Ltd, 2002), 46.
46 Boyden, Rough Guide, 19.
47 Boyden, Rough Guide, 19.
48 Jean-Philippe Rameau, Castor et Pollux, (Paris: A. Durand & Fils, 1903), 45-46.
22
frequent use of harpsichord musical gestures, trills, grace notes and the inventive pairing
of piccolo and harpsichord in order to imitate the rural sounds of the hurdy-gurdy
associated with provincial France. Rameau's transformative, anti-Lullian use of recitative,
including more lyrical vocal writing, accompanied recitatives and more chromatic
harmonic progressions, appears frequently in Tailleferre's opera.49 Interestingly, each of
the recitatives are placed within the context of larger duets, trios and quartets, further
highlighting Rameau's equal treatment of recitative and arias for dramatic continuity. An
elevated importance of text clarity and precise use of coloratura also mirrors Rameau's
evolution beyond the vocal acrobatics of Lullian opera.
Lastly, the text by Centore offers numerous similarities and parodies of 18th
century French opera libretti. References to Greek mythology abound, including
mentions of the Titan Phoebe, commonly connected with the moon, as well as the
narrative themes of self-sacrifice, conflicts of love and family and the restoration of life.
The rather quick introduction and death of Milord Mac Sennet, which proves to be
incredibly beneficial for Pouponne, can even be related to the deus ex machina
convention found in Rameau's Castor et Pollux and throughout Greek mythology. This
narrative, however, slyly turns Enlightenment era ideology and morality on its head as
Pouponne achieves her change in station through questionable means and with seemingly
little regard for her former lover. One pointed enlightened reference appears when
Pouponne reminds herself, ?do not forget you are a philosopher!? Centore chooses
linguistic affects to depict the time period, including archaic French words that have
transformed considerably in modern French. Such choices also accentuate dialects that
represent varying hierarchies of class and wealth, including the poor grammar and
49 Boyden, Rough Guide, 46.
23
misspelled vocabulary of Pouponne's mother and father from the rural town of Arpajon.
Examples include ?on jase,? referring to chatting in a very casual or rural manner,
?viaux,? a purposefully poor pronunciation of the term for calves, and ?goton,? which at
the time indicated a farm girl lacking manners but has evolved to become a modern
suggestion of promiscuity.
Le bel ambitieux
The musical and textual elements of Le bel ambitieux are rooted in the operatic
styles of Romantic era composers Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), Fran?ois-Adrien
Boieldieu (1775-1834) and Daniel Auber (1782-1871). Though Rossini composed only
four operas to French libretti, only one of which being a comic opera, his ever-popular
compositional style and influential presence in Paris nevertheless transformed French
opera and its native composers Boieldieu and Auber. Boieldieu's simple and refined
textures, colorful orchestrations and frequent use of repetition which earned him the title
of, "one of the creators of a distinctively French nineteenth-century sound," owe much to
Rossini.50 Auber's famous opera Fra Diavolo, praised for its synthesis of French and
Italian comic opera styles, employs the tunefulness, sparkling coloratura, light textures
and patter songs characteristic of Rossini's operas.51
Parody is on full display from the opening bars of the overture. The repeated
orchestral figure in measures 1-6 is a direct adaptation of Rossini's famous overture to Il
barbiere di Siviglia. Furthermore, the instrumental melody above this orchestral material
is a self-quotation from Tailleferre's own overture to La fille d'op?ra, serving as possible
50 Boyden, Rough Guide, 128.
51 Boyden, Rough Guide, 130.
24
commentary on Rossini's well-known propensity for borrowing arias and overtures from
his own works.52 Further multi-layered parody is evident in the Baron's wedding song, in
which the immediately recognizable ?Bridal March? from Wagner's Lohengrin pays
homage to a suspiciously similar chorus from Bo?eldieu?s Les deux nuits composed 20
years prior.53 Immediately noticeable in the opening lover's duet is the colorful and
accompanimental orchestration, favoring lighter textures that support the tuneful
melodies and harmonic borrowing from relative major and minor tonal centers. These
Romantic era orchestral conventions continue throughout the score with textures that take
advantage of contrasting instrumental sonorities while never competing with the
dominant melodies.
Imitation of Rossini's bel canto style and French Romantic opera continues with
the Rossini crescendo, emphasis of ensembles and choice of dance forms. The practice of
increasing intensity by repeating a phrase with higher pitches and added instruments,
known as the ?Rossini crescendo,? appears in the finale of Le bel ambitieux.54 Alphonse
and Euphrasie introduce melodic phrases that are subsequently repeated by more
characters and at increasingly higher pitch levels until the climactic ending of the opera.
Ensemble numbers and finales, which increased in importance during the Romantic era,
find similar emphasis in Tailleferre's opera. In fact, the structure of the entire opera could
be viewed through the lens of a typical ensemble finale as characters are continuously
added to the same scene, building the conflict step by step, until the large ensemble
reaches a resolution. Tailleferre also highlights the popular dance forms of the era with
multiple waltzes and a mazurka, in clear reference to Fr?d?ric Chopin.
52 Boyden, Rough Guide, 167.
53 Boyden, Rough Guide, 128.
54 Canon, Opera, 136.
25
Denise Centore's libretto continues to allude to 19th century Paris and the
Romantic era. The characters employ Anglicisms throughout the dialogue that would
have been fashionable at the time, including "dear," "Ophelia" (in reference to
Shakespeare) and frequent commentary about tea. Similar to the Rossini comic operas,
Centore's narrative contains a simplified plot, absent of confusing subplots, with
imperfect characters that would be more relatable to the general public.55 The increased
amount of spoken dialogue is also notable for its similarities to the popular operas of
Bo?eldieu (La dame blanche) and Auber (Fra Diavolo).
La pauvre Eug?nie
The musical and textual elements of La pauvre Eug?nie are formed from the
naturalist operatic style exemplified by the late Romantic French composer Gustave
Charpentier (1860-1956). Though Charpentier's "musical novel" Louise, with music and
libretto by the composer, was his only operatic success, the style of this widely acclaimed
and internationally successful work serves as an important milestone in the evolution of
French opera.56 Louise encapsulates the French expression of naturalism, similar to
Bizet's Carmen and related to Italian verismo through Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci and the
Second Viennese School through Berg's Wozzeck.57 Novelist ?mile Zola helped codify
this artistic perspective as an analysis of human psychology in which no character should
appear larger than life and the environmental and hereditary influences of violence,
alcohol and prostitution could be unflinchingly examined.58
55 Canon, Opera, 129.
56 Boyden, Rough Guide, 397.
57 Canon, Opera, 259-260, 303-305.
58 Canon, Opera, 257-258.
26
The music of La pauvre Eug?nie employs many late Romantic gestures,
harmonies and direct references to Charpentier's Louise. The opening bars of the overture
are a notable departure from the remaining operas of Quatre op?ras bouffes. Rapid
dynamic shifts, tremolos and a 32nd note gesture immediately thrust the listener into the
heightened drama common in late Romanticism. Indications of the famous soprano aria
from Louise, "Depuis le jour," are nestled in the major sixth melodic leaps and slow
ascending motif that recurs similarly in the titular character's musical material. Increased
chromaticism and a tonally ambiguous ending creates an atmospheric segue into the first
character entrances.
With the entrance of Le Patron, Titine and Paula, the vocal lines are noticeably
constructed to closely match the prosody of spoken French and often place little
significance on lyrical or melodic patterns. This speech-singing affect continues
throughout the opera and shows influence reminiscent of the Sprechgesang recitative
style in which dramatic proclamation of text rises in musical importance relative to the
melodic pitches of the recitative, a recitative style commonly associated with the music
dramas of Richard Wagner. Near the end of the opening scene, Eug?nie reveals her
recurring motif, the slow ascending melody hinted in the overture with borrowed material
from "Depuis le jour." In similar triple meter, this motif is followed by phrases
constructed of monotone text leading to accelerated scalar passages and large leaps to
sustained phrase endings. To solidify the reference, at this moment Eug?nie sings the
phrase, "Depuis ce jour plein d?illusions," a clear nod to Louise's line, "Depuis le jour."
The harmonic language and textures throughout the score are largely dense, with
added chord tones of 9ths and 11ths as well as continued increased chromaticism. The
27
use of tremolos and broad-ranging orchestration help imitate the large orchestras and
expansive sonorities of naturalist operas. This affect shifts momentarily in Eug?nie's first
solo, "Le Rond de saucisson de l'ouvri?re hon?te." This chanson is comprised of clearer
tonality communicated through arpeggios and a simple melody utilized to illustrate the
pure intentions of Eug?nie that are in striking contrast to the harsh realities of lower
working class Paris. Eug?nie's second monologue, "M'sieur J. Duplan," musically
succumbs to the turmoil of Paris as she recounts her unrequited love, the departure of her
daughter's father and the lesson she has learned about giving into such deceptive
passions. The climactic duet between Eug?nie and her new faithful lover, G?g?ne,
features more lyrical melodic material for both voices and builds a slow moving and
luscious orchestral timbre with added-chord tones evocative of similar moments between
Louise and Julien in Charpentier's score. The close of the opera presents the full cast in a
homophonic fanfare finale praising the lovers, the redemption of Eug?nie and the hopeful
promise for Paris' bright future. This finale echoes the last moments of the chorus in Act
IV of Louise, "O jolie Paris," as Louise finally decides to run back to Paris and away
from her family. The borrowed text from L'Idole by poet Auguste Barbier, "Au grand
[fier] soleil de messidor!" offers a conclusion that anticipates French freedom and
overcoming of hardships after nearly a century of political and industrial revolutions.59
The libretto of La pauvre Eug?nie similarly reflects that of Charpentier's Louise.
Both Eug?nie and Louise find themselves working as dressmakers in a lower class
neighborhood of Paris. The bohemian lifestyle allows ample moments for commentary on
class hierarchies and inequalities between the working class and the bourgeoisie.
59 Nicolas Vasseur, ?La Pauvre Eug?nie,? Domaine de Musique Jaur?s Montreuil, accessed April 8, 2022,
https://nicolas-vasseur.canoprof.fr/eleve/Pauvre_Eugenie_corrige@3/#FfzAQTBYw6BZAsATz5q5i
28
Prostitution serves as a recurring theme to highlight the patriarchal dangers of predatory
middle and upper class men as well as the extents to which many are forced in order to
climb the financial and social ladder out of destitution. Eug?nie speaks of the lengths to
which she strives to remain unseen by men on the street and the actions of Mame Ph?mie
draw plenty of suspicion from her husband, Titine and Paula. From this perspective, the
voicing of Mame Ph?mie for tenor can be viewed as a parodic twist by Tailleferre and
Centore on the social norms and gender expectations of the time period. The prose and
syntax of these working class characters typifies their social standing through unrefined
grammar and numerous contractions rarely observed in French opera libretti. Such
themes and character specificity help embody the ideals of realism championed by
novelists Zola and Balzac. La pauvre Eug?nie showcases the unfiltered humanity
demanded by realism through complex, morally ambiguous characters and plentiful
descriptions of scenes and environments. Distinct descriptions, such as Eug?nie's garlic
sausage, the events with M'sieur J. Duplan, the color and texture of the pink feather boa
and the vivid vision of Eug?nie and G?g?ne's new life together, are common tools of
realist literature to enhance the humanity of the characters and their scenic context.
Lastly, La pauvre Eug?nie uses a common tactic in realist literature of personifying cities
and inanimate objects, allowing them to take on human qualities and serve as living
characters in a narrative. Similar to Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart, Balzac's La Com?die
humaine and Charpentier's Louise, Paris is imbued at the close of the opera with the
breath of human qualities as the maternal figure for the new lovers, Eug?nie and
G?g?ne.60
60 Canon, Opera, 257-258.
29
M. Petitpois ach?te un ch?teau
The musical and textual elements of M. Petitpois ach?te un ch?teau parody much
of the style of operetta made famous in the mid-19th century by Jacques Offenbach
(1819-1880). Of Offenbach's more than 100 staged works, his one-act op?rettes, op?ras
comiques, op?ras bouffes and op?ras bouffons share signature traits of his compositional
style, including humorous narratives and wordplay, emphasis of dance forms, recurring
musical material and increased use of ensemble numbers and refrains. These
compositional characteristics would come to influence later composers, such as Johann
Strauss Jr. and Arthur Sullivan, and propel the emergence of a new internationally
sensational genre, operetta.61 Tailleferre and Centore imitate and twist many of these
elements in their pocket opera parody, M. Petitpois ach?te un ch?teau.
The light and fast-paced overture immediately shows greater use of percussive
orchestration and instrumentation, including distinct contrasts of tonal registration,
repeated octaves and staccato phrases. This helps highlight the addition of cymbals,
triangle and glockenspiel commonly found in Offenbach's orchestrations. The overture
also introduces one important trademark of Offenbach, the Can-Can. This raucous duple
meter dance form was popular in the music halls and cabarets of the time and frequently
featured an acrobatic dance performed by a chorus line, both celebrated and chastised for
its risqu? tussling of skirts, kicks, splits and cartwheels.62 Offenbach's most famous
can-can is the "Galop Infernal" from Orph?e aux Enfers, which is easily recognizable
from many references in popular culture since its debut. The overture also presents
61 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 58-60.
62 Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Can-Can." Encyclopedia Britannica, March 31, 2022, accessed
April 9, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/art/cancan.
30
melodic material that is featured and largely unaltered in later numbers in the opera,
including the ensemble "Signez, signez, Mr. Petitpois" and the Finale, similar to the
musical borrowing found in many of Offenbach's works.63
Military music and dance forms continue to serve an important role in M.
Petitpois. Military marches can be found throughout Offenbach's oeuvre, including La
P?richole, La vie parisienne and La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein, to name a few.
Adelestan's opening air continues this militaristic tradition as he proclaims his successes
and exploits both on the battlefield and in romantic affairs. Such an entrance of a
romantic hero is mirrored in Offenbach's Croquefer and La belle H?l?ne.64 Martial
influence returns in Adelestan and Le Duc's "Cri de guerre des La Bombardi?re" in which
the father-son duo, accompanied by a hunting horn motif, declare the beginning of the
duel between Adelestan and Oreste by singing their ancestral battle cry. Dance forms
such as the waltz and mazurka are also employed to closely imitate the operettas of
Offenbach. Mr. Petitpois' flamboyant entrance trio, "La Moustachette,'' makes use of the
Tyrolienne waltz. This waltz form set in the traditional triple meter comes from Tyrolese
dances and Alpine songs, called "Yodelers and L?ndlers," which exhibit characteristic
yodeling melodic passages, in this instance, sung by Petitpois' daughter H?lo?se and
nephew Oreste. Similar Tyrolienne waltzes can be found in Offenbach's La belle H?l?ne
and La vie parisienne.65 Another dance form, the mazurka, is utilized in Le Duc's air "La
galerie des anc?tres." Made widely-known by Fr?d?ric Chopin, the Polish folk dance is
63 Boyden, Rough Guide, 296.
64 Nicolas Vasseur, ?Mr. Petitpois ach?te un ch?teau,? Domaine de Musique Jaur?s Montreuil, accessed
April 9, 2022, https://nicolas-vasseur.canoprof.fr/eleve/Monsieur_Petitpois_corrige@1
65 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 123, 173.
31
depicted in this air with characteristic dotted rhythms and moderate tempo while the
rhythm and poetic prosody help emphasize the second and third beats of each measure.
Other recognizable musical elements of the operetta form include direct musical
quotation, prevalence of ensemble music and music finales. The duet between Adelestan
and H?lo?se directly quotes melodic and harmonic material from the title song of
Offenbach?s La chanson de Fortunio, which was popularly programmed in recitals in
early 20th century France and would have been immediately appreciated by French
audiences in Tailleferre's time.66 Ensemble singing is also at the fore in M. Petitpois and
many of Offenbach's operettas. Ensemble refrains during solo airs occur in all three of the
opening entrance numbers. Likewise, full ensemble numbers occur throughout the score,
including "Patatra," all three "Cri g?n?ral," "Signez, signez, Mr. Petitpois" and the
"Finale." "Patatra" resembles a typical act finale found at the midpoint of Offenbach
operettas which intensifies the action and highlights the chaos of the narrative conflicts.
The three "Cri G?n?ral" are short ensemble recitatives responding to the impassioned
behaviors of the characters embroiled in conflict. Such musical responses share
characteristics with Offenbach's m?lodrames, short musical numbers played underneath
particularly heightened spoken dialogue.67 Lastly, the brief finale includes distinctive
musical quotations from earlier numbers and sums up the sudden turn of events leading to
the happy ending for all.
The libretto of M. Petitpois similarly matches the humorous conventions of
Offenbach's operettas. The narrative shares many aspects of the libretto of Ch?teau ?
Toto and Croquefer, including the selling of a castle, the lovers? entanglement, medieval
66 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 168.
67 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 178-179.
32
elements and upholding ancestral traditions.68 Wordplay permeates each scene and
musical number, including diminutive nicknames, repeated syllables and rapid text
setting. Mr. Petitpois, literally translated as "little pea," is referred to by creative turns of
French phrases as a tadpole, a green bean and a lentil. Le Duc brags about his illustrious
ancestors, who all have silly nicknames, including ?Ermangard le Mal-Cuit? (Ermangard
the Undercooked) and ?Luitpol Longue-Oreille? (Luitpol Long-Ears). Other character
names seem to pay homage to Offenbach operettas and popular French figures. H?lo?se
references the strong, independent female characters of Offenbach?s Barbe-bleue and La
belle H?l?ne. Oreste is named directly after the son of Agamemnon in La belle H?l?ne.
Cun?gonde also appears in Offenbach?s Le roi Carotte as well as Voltaire's Candide,
possibly depicting a similar character found trapped by their follies.69
Immediately apparent from the first air to the finale is the rapid setting of the
French text and repetition of syllables, both hallmarks of Offenbach. The stuttered
warnings to Adelestan, the bombastic yodels of "La moustachette," the amazement of the
ancestral lineage, the chaotic outbursts of "Patatra" and the urgent pleas to Mr. Petitpois
to buy the ch?teau are all emphasized with repeated, nonsensical syllables and lightning
fast text. Such characteristic treatment of the French language is famously evidenced in
Offenbach's quintet of the kings in La belle H?l?ne. These textual and musical elements
combine for an unforgettably witty and tuneful experience in Tailleferre's M. Petitpois
ach?te un ch?teau.
68 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 158.
69 Cummins, ?Use of Parody,? 160.
33
Chapter 4
Opportunities In Higher Education Vocal Studies
Accessibility
One of the main goals of this project is to increase accessibility and visibility of
Tailleferre?s vocal works within academic and professional institutions in the United
States. Currently, many obstacles exist for English speaking artists, instructors and
students that understandably inhibit the exploration and inclusion of her influence and
works in courses of study and performance programs. Barriers to accessibility addressed
in this project include lack of available instructional support, language and lack of
materials to guide performance practice.
Many instructional materials that support existing song and opera literature
courses do not include adequate information or are completely void of information to
prepare instructors to lead scholarly discussions about Tailleferre. Three common French
song literature texts, The Interpretation of French Song by Pierre Bernac, Song: A Guide
to Art Song Style and Literature by Carol Kimball and A French Song Companion by
Graham Johnson and Richard Stokes, are prime examples. Bernac?s highly influential
performance guide includes song translations, detailed musical discussion or mentions of
compositions of forty-three French song composers, including 20th century
contemporaries Francis Poulenc, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud and Georges Auric,
but fails to include any mention of Germaine Tailleferre.70 Similarly, Kimball?s
comprehensive song literature text that expands literature exploration beyond Western
70 Pierre Bernac, The Interpretation of French Song, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1978).
34
European composers, does not include discussion of Tailleferre.71 Johnson and Stokes
textbook on the historical development of French song offers one page of biographical
and compositional information pertaining to Tailleferre and one song translation,
"Souvent un air de v?rit?" from Six chansons fran?aises. Serving as a brief starting point
for further research, the authors close the discussion of Tailleferre by stating, ?The time
has come to reassess a composer who really benefited from the camaraderie of Les Six,
and whose career never fully recovered, in the eyes of the public at least, from the
collapse of that group?s communal esprit.?72 Popular instructional texts pertaining to
opera literature, including Opera by Robert Canon and The Rough Guide to Opera by
Matthew Boyden, also fail to mention Tailleferre?s contributions to operatic evolution and
literature in their current editions.
To help bridge this instructional gap found in course materials, the lecture recital
portion of this project provides a concise framework for fellow academic instructors to
introduce Tailleferre and her works into standard curriculum. This presentation meets
many requirements for standard higher education literature courses, including necessary
discussion topics, a common structure of compositional examination and analysis of a
variety of vocal works. This lecture recital provides biographical information to
contextualize Tailleferre?s influences and output, an outline of general style
characteristics to easily compare with other composers and more detailed discussion of
specific works to pinpoint the composer?s style characteristics in musical scores. This
lecture also divides Tailleferre?s compositional career into four time periods, a common
71 Carol Kimball, Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature, Revised ed (Milwaukee: Hal Leonard
Corporation, 2006).
72 Graham Johnson and Richard Stokes, A French Song Companion, (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2002), 487.
35
tool in literature courses to structure understanding of a composer?s evolution and to
better prepare students for the demands of masters and doctoral comprehensive exams. In
analyzing Tailleferre?s vocal works, it was important to provide examples pertaining to
both song literature and opera literature in the hopes of offering maximum opportunities
for instructional integration in current literature courses. Therefore, score discussions
include two song sets with a variety of stylistic influences and excerpts from Quatre
op?ras bouffes of varying styles within the operatic genre. Lastly, the duration of this
lecture being approximately 45 minutes, excluding the full musical performances,
matches the time frame commonly allotted for higher education lectures.
Another step toward accessibility achieved in this project includes translations of
Tailleferre?s vocal works. Current valuable resources for instruction and performance
preparation, such as the opera libretti translations and transcriptions by Nico Castel and
the song texts and translations available in LiederNet Archive and Oxford Lieder, include
few to no translations or transcriptions of Tailleferre?s works. The original translations of
Trois Chansons de Jean Tardieu and Quatre op?ras bouffes created as part of this project
encourage considerable progress toward accessibility of these works for English-speaking
artists and audiences. The full libretto translation of Quatre op?ras bouffes in particular,
including translated dialogue and performance supertitles, opens the door for academic
and professional organizations to easily mount future productions with accompanying
materials commonly expected of standard opera productions. This is especially beneficial
considering the eccentricities of Centore and Tailleferre?s libretto, including archaic
French vocabulary, various peculiar French dialects and grammatical liberties used to
parody or depict time periods and social and economic classes. This translation is of
36
highest value for singers, coaches, directors and teachers preparing a production as a tool
for learning the score and as a guide for deciphering the complicated and absurd
narratives employed to parody each composer and time period.
Lastly, this project provides performance recordings and program notes for
Quatre op?ras bouffes that will aid future production preparations. The project
performances feature the first recording of the operatic cycle performed solely from the
reduction for piano published by G?rard Billaudot. Performances of operas with piano
reduction are a common, economical and practical choice for higher education scene
study courses and innovative academic and professional productions. This project?s
recordings can serve as a guide for performance practice with piano reduction, offering
options for performance modifications, considerations for performing without a
conductor and specific vocal performance practice choices based on compositional styles.
The program notes accompanying these performances present analyses of narratives,
characters, music and text that may also prove constructive for future production
preparations.
Applications To Vocal Training
The song sets Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e and Trois Chansons de Jean
Tardieu represent repertoire of Tailleferre?s that is easily applicable to higher education
vocal training. A variety of compositional elements and vocal demands make them ideal
for improving the skills and employing the academic knowledge of university level voice
students. The range of stylistic influences, including neoclassical, modern and
impressionist musical traits, offers ample opportunities for students of singing to decipher
compositional details and showcase educated musical choices based on knowledge and
37
skills acquired in music theory, aural skills and French diction courses. With song
structures and vocal demands ranging from simplistic to complex, individual songs from
these sets could be introduced as a student progresses in their studies, methodically
building in rigor and confidence in their approach and command of French song.
Quatre op?ras bouffes can be similarly and successfully applied to undergraduate
opera studies. The clearly delineated stylistic imitations outlined by the composer and
librettist offer voice students an educational gateway into varying operatic styles.
Students have the opportunity to discern direct imitations and quotations of differing
operatic styles as well as the chance to encounter musical caricatures and purposeful
contradictions, which can be valuable pedagogical tools to inspire a more thorough
understanding of compositional techniques and operatic conventions. This educational
approach to Quatre op?ras bouffes can encourage discussions of historically-informed
performance practice while also welcoming greater flexibility and ingenuity with the
parodied material. The wide range of operatic styles represented in the cycle afford the
rare ability for students of differing voice types, fachs and age within the same program
to perform full roles and experience styles that best suit their voices and stages of
training. Furthermore, the brevity of each opera and of each role allows for a safe and
structured environment in which to experiment with new styles and vocal demands
without the pressure and expense of such experimentation in larger roles and productions.
Lastly, the episodic construction of these operas favors the practical time frame and
format of many opera scenes performances, offering the ability for individual operas from
the cycle to be featured alongside other operatic scenes or for the cycle in its entirety to
serve as a complete scenes performance.
38
Chapter 5
Conclusion
The vocal works of Germaine Tailleferre offer an abundance of musical, historical
and pedagogical opportunities to further understand the progress of French art song and
opera throughout the 20th century. Tailleferre?s close collaborations with many of the
era?s most influential artists and provocateurs, as well as her prolific partnership with a
major French media outlet, offer unique insight into the evolving philosophies, artistic
movements and zeitgeist of the time period. This project?s consolidated research,
structured lecture, musical analyses, original translations and premiere performances
endeavor to provide valuable instructional and performance-related materials to increase
access to and further disseminate these exceptional works. The array of compositional
styles and demands represented in her oeuvre provide advantageous possibilities for
projects incorporating diverse voice types, skill levels and integration with core academic
studies. Especially remarkable is the balance of gender perspectives and discussions
available with her inclusion in courses of song and opera literature, among others. May
the work of this project and of fellow artists and researchers help to more fully realize the
powerful impact of Tailleferre?s legacy within our institutions of higher education.
39
Appendix A
Program #1
Lecture Recital
December 2, 2021
Gildenhorn Recital Hall
Lecture: Introduction to the Life, Influences, Compositional Style &
Repertoire of Germaine Tailleferre
INTERMISSION
Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e (1959)
Poet: Robert Pinget
Les Chapeaux
D?sinvoluture
L'Oiseau des ?les
Cours
L'?meraude
Sainte Nitouche
Partage
L'Insecte
L'Hirondele
Le Serpent
Pancarte pour une porte d'entr?e
Trois Chansons de Jean Tardieu (1977)
Poet: Jean Tardieu
L'?ternel enfant
Petite flamme
R?capontilu
Excerpts from Quatre op?ras bouffes (1955)
La fille d?op?ra
Et quand le roi l?a dit
Cet ?cossais revient des ?les
Le bel ambitieux
Mazurka
Air
M. Petitpois ach?te un ch?teau
Valse tyrolienne ?La Moustachette?
La galerie des anc?tres
40
Appendix B
Program #2
Quatre op?ras bouffes - Part 1
March 15, 2022
Gildenhorn Recital Hall
La fille d?op?ra
In the style of Jean-Philippe Rameau
Cast:
Mlle. Pouponne Rhiannon Vaughn
La M?re Melissa Mino
Mistouflet Thomas Lloyd
Le Merlan David Starry
L?Inspecteur Zachary Bryant
Le P?re/Le Bottier Christian Simmons
INTERMISSION
Le bel ambitieux
In the style of Gioachino Rossini
Cast:
Cl?mentine Morghan Pastrana
Euphrasie Melissa Mino
Petit Jacques Thomas Lloyd
Alphonse Zachary Bryant
Le Baron Christian Simmons
41
Appendix C
Program #3
Quatre op?ras bouffes - Part 2
April 14, 2022
Gildenhorn Recital Hall
La pauvre Eug?nie
In the style of Gustave Charpentier
Cast:
Eug?nie Allysa Packard
Titine Denique Isaac
Paula Madeline Miskie-Jaeger
Mme. Ph?mie David Starry
G?g?ne Zachary Bryant
Le Patron Henrique Carvalho
INTERMISSION
M. Petitpois ach?te un ch?teau
In the style of Jacques Offenbach
Cast:
H?lo?se Denique Isaac
Cun?gonde Madeline Miskie-Jaeger
Adelestan David Starry
Oreste Thomas Lloyd
Notaire Josh Bates
Mr. Petitpois Zachary Bryant
Le Duc Henrique Carvalho
42
Appendix D
Quatre op?ras bouffes Full Libretto
LA FILLE D?OP?RA
1. Duo - Scene 1 1. Duo - Scene 1
POUPONNE POUPONNE
(vivement) (strongly)
Le financier qui m?abandonne The financier who abandons me
Me permet enfin de t?aimer Finally allows me to love you
Et croyant affliger Pouponne And thinking he is offending Pouponne,
La livre ? la f?licit? Actually abandons her to her deepest pleasure
POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET
Profitons d?un heureux moment Let's take advantage of a propitious moment
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Trop longtemps la triste contrainte Too long the sad constraint
Nous accabla sous son empire Overwhelmed us under its sway
Banissons ? jamais la feinte Let's banish the pretense forever
Que rien ne g?ne nos plaisirs Let nothing hinder our pleasures
Scene 2 Scene 2
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Cache-toi promptement, chevalier; le temps se g?te, Hide quickly, sir; the storm clouds gather,
j?aper?ois sur le place deux figures qui ne me disent rien de I see on the square two figures that don?t inspire trust...
bon?
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Quoi, ce paysan et cette paysanne qui examinent votre balcon What, these peasants who examine your balcony, gossiping
en ouvrant la bouche d?une oreille ? l?autre? back and forth?
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Vite, vite? Fourre-toi derri?re le paravant, ils arrivent tout droit Quick, quick? Get behind the screen, they come straight from
d?Arpajon, je gage? Arpajon, I bet?
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Je n?entends rien ? cet imbroglio? I don't understand this mess...
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Ne te montre pas, surtout? (? part). Il y a bien six mois que Above all, don't show yourself? (aside) It's been six months
j?ai oubli? de leur envoyer l?int?r?t des 50 livres qu?ils m?ont since I forgot to send them the interest on the 50 pounds they
avanc?es pour m??tablir ling?re ? Paris? Allons, tiens ferme, advanced me to establish myself as a seamstress in Paris?
Pouponne, n?oublie pas que tu es philosophe? Come on, hold yourself together, Pouponne, don't forget you?re
impressively clever.
2. Trio - Scene 3 2. Trio - Scene 3
LA M?RE LA M?RE
Je sommes venue d?Arpajon I came all the way from Arpajon
Dans la carriole ? Lucas In Lucas' poor little cart
J?avons quitt? nout? canton I wandered far off from home
Dans l?but d?avoir nos ducats To settle our debts
LA P?RE LA P?RE
C?est y donc l? vos mani?res So those are your manners
43
D?faire du tort ? son vieux p?re? To wrong your old man?
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Mon p?re, ma m?re, que vos discours f?cheux My father, my mother, your speeches annoy me
Mon p?re, ma m?re, allez donc soigner vos boeufs My father, my mother, go take care of your oxen
LA M?RE LA M?RE
On jase de vous au pays They don?t speak kindly of you
bien vilainement la belle In the country, little girl
On dit qu?les beaux messieurs d?Paris They say the handsome gentlemen of Paris
Vous couvrent de fines dentelles Cover you with fancy lace
LA P?RE LA P?RE
Et qu?ils vous b?illement pour en b?cot And they yawn to kiss you
Et quoi acheter une paire de viaux And to buy a pair of calves
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Mon p?re, ma m?re, ce propos l? me consterne My father, my mother, this dismays me
Mon p?re, ma m?re, allez allez faucher vos luzernes My father, my mother, go trim your alfalfa
LA M?RE LA M?RE
J?va vous soigner ? ma fa?on I?ll take care of you in my own way
D?une bonne girofl?e Like a good gillyflower
Vous v?la nipp? comme un? goton Here you?re all dressed up like a misbehaved farm girl,
Et ?a fait la mijaur?e! Acting like such a highfalutin girl!
LA P?RE LA P?RE
La m?re finis ton madrigal Mother, finish your ditty
d?main, j?la f?rons met? ? l?h?pital! Tomorrow, I'll put her in the hospital!
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Sortez d?ici manants ou j?appelle la garde Get out of here beggars or I'll call the guard
LA M?RE LA M?RE
Mon homme tirons nous d?l? Let's get out of here
LA P?RE LA P?RE
La femme sortons d?ici Let's leave here
Il a une fi?re colichemarde He?s got a proud sword
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Mon p?re, ma m?re, je suis bien votre servante My father, my mother, I am indeed your servant
Mon p?re, ma m?re, votre tr?s humble servante. My father, my mother, your most humble servant.
3. Duo - Scene 4 3. Duo - Scene 4
POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET
Des g?neurs la projet s?arr?te, Obstacles stop our affair,
Ranimons les feux d?un amour Let's rekindle the fires of a love
Dont aucun mortel ne s?appr?te Of which no mortal is prepared
? d?ranger la tendre cours To disturb its tender course
Profitons d?un heureux moment Let's enjoy a happy time
4. - Scene 5 4. - Scene 5
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Qu?est-ce l?, Messieurs, et que signifie ce tapage? What is it, Gentlemen, and what does this uproar mean?
LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER
Monsieur le chevalier, Good sir,
Voici votre bottier Here is your shoemaker
44
Voici votre merlan Here is your hairdresser
Tous deux d?vou?s ? vos ordres Both devoted to your orders
POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET
On pourrait croire qu?ils vont nous mordre We would think they might bite us
LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER
Vous nous devez cent pistoles You owe us a hundred pistoles
?videmment depuis six mois sur parole Obviously for six months on my word
POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET
Mais qu?ont-ils donc ces pauvres gens? But what do these poor people have?
LE MERLAN LE MERLAN
Deux fois dix-huit pots de pommade Two times eighteen pots of pomade
Quatre vingt dix neuf sous de poudre Ninety-nine cents of powder
LE BOTTIER THE BOOTMAKER
Des mules pour la promenade Mules for the walk
Et quatre tiges ? resemeler And four soles to repair
LE MERLAN LE MERLAN
Trente coiffures ? la fran?aise, Thirty hairstyles ? la fran?aise,
La barbe faite ? Monsieur Blaise The beard done like Monsieur Blaise
LE BOTTIER LE BOTTIER
Un grand tire bottes plus la rosette A large boot puller plus the rosette
Que Madam? perdit ? la f?te That Madame lost at the party
LE MERLAN LE MERLAN
Et pour accommoder Monsieur, And to accommodate sir,
Dix huit frisures trouss?es au mieux Eighteen curls bundled at best
LE BOTTIER LE BOTTIER
Et j?ai not? un lacet neuf And I noticed a new shoelace
Plus douze sols de p?te ? l?oeuf Plus twelve sols of shoe shine
LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER
Ce qui fait bien ?videmment Which obviously makes
Cent pistoles sur ma parole. A hundred pistoles on my word.
POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET
Mais qu?ont-ils donc ces pauvres gens But how crazy do these poor people
Leurs t?tes me paraissent folles Look to me,
Pour un si m?diocre m?moire venir Hurting our ears
Nous rompre les oreilles Because of such a mediocre record book.
Messieurs, vraiment Gentlemen, truly
Je m??merveille ? tel point que je n?ose y croire I?m so amazed that I dare not believe it
LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER
Oh! Quoi! Mais! Qu?est ce! Ah! Ciel! Oh! What! But! What is that! Ah! Heavens!
C?est peu de chose assur?ment It's certainly a small thing
Mais il nous faudrait quelque argent But we need some money
Ou nous irons fort ? regret Or we will go very reluctantly
D?poser plainte au Ch?telet To file a complaint at the Ch?telet
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Laissez-moi ces broutilles et revenez demain, Messieurs, Leave me these trifles and come back tomorrow, gentlemen,
j?aurai de quoi vous satisfaire. I will have something to satisfy you.
45
LE MERLAN LE MERLAN
Nous reviendrons dans un moment; il nous faut parler ? We'll come back in a moment; we must speak to Madame.
Madame.
LE BOTTIER LE BOTTIER
Nos coeurs ne sont point taill?s dans le marbre, et nous Our hearts are not carved in stone, we may have an honest
aurons peut-?tre un honn?te arrangement ? vous proposer. arrangement to offer you.
5. - Scene 6 5. - Scene 6
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Pouponne, c?en est fait le sort nous est contraire Pouponne, it's over, fate is against us
Il faut prendre parti, il faut nous y r?soudre We have to make up our minds, we have to come to terms with
it
POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET
Il faut prendre parti, il faut nous y r?soudre We have to take sides, we have to resolve it
Fuyons dans les d?serts n?attendons pas la foudre Let's flee to the deserts, let's not wait for lightning
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Me suivrais tu jusqu?? Limours? Would you follow me to Limours?
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Je te suivrais jusqu?? Limours I would follow you to Limours
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
J?y poss?de un ch?teau flanqu? de quatre tours I have a house there flanked by four towers
O? sous l?antique ogive nous verrions luire Phoeb? Where under the ancient arch we would see Phoebe shining
Occup?s de nous seuls, de nous seuls enivr?s Occupied with us alone, with us alone intoxicated
POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET
Occup?s de nous seuls, de nous seuls ennivr?s Occupied with us alone, with us alone intoxicated
Ah! Fuyons sans tarder, fuyons jusqu?? Limours Ah! Let's flee without delay, let's flee to Limours
Oui, laissons des cit?s, le pernicieux s?jour. Yes, let?s leave the city's pernicious stay.
Scene 7 Scene 7
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
Il est trop tard, Monsieur le Chevalier. Voil? douze minutes It's too late, good sir. It's been twelve minutes since the
que la diligence de Limours a quitt? la rue des Postes? Limours stagecoach left the rue des Postes...
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Palsambleu! Quelle insolence! Qui vous a permis d?entrer en My God! What insolence! Who allowed you to enter this
cet appartement? apartment?
L?INSPECTEUR THE INSPECTOR
Souffrez que je me pr?sente: Inspecteur Prunelle, d?p?ch? Allow me to introduce myself: Inspector Prunelle, dispatched to
aupr?s de vous par Monsieur le Lieutenant de Police. you by the Lieutenant of Police.
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Et qu?ai-je ? faire avec la Police, s?il vous pla?t? And what have I to do with the Police, please?
L?INSPECTEUR THE INSPECTOR
Vos parents, Monsieur le chevalier, se plaignent fort au roi de Your parents, Sir Knight, are complaining loudly to the King
vos extravagances, et je crains bien d?avoir, d?ici quelques about your extravagances, and I am afraid that in a few days I
jours, l?honneur de vous faire monter de grand matin dans une will have the honor of getting you into a car belonging to the
voiture de la lieutenance de Police, pour vous mener loger Lieutenant of Police very early in the morning, to take you to
aux d?pens de Sa Majest?, en son ch?teau de la Bastille stay at the expense of His Majesty, in his castle of the Bastille
Saint-Antoine? Saint-Antoine...
46
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Ciel, Mistouflet! On te mettrait ? la Bastille? Heaven, Mistouflet! Will they really put you in the Bastille?
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
? la Bastille, moi! Monsieur l?Inspecteur, mais c?est atroce? At the Bastille! Me? Inspector, oh it's atrocious...
L?INSPECTEUR THE INSPECTOR
Non, c?est prudent. Vos plaisirs co?tent un peu trop cher ? No, it's wise. Your pleasures cost your Father a little too much.
Monsieur votre P?re.
6. Trio de la Bastille 6. Trio de la Bastille
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Tristes plaisir, funestes r?jouissances, Sad pleasures, fatal rejoicings,
Appats trompeurs trop pr?cieuse folie, Deceitful lures, too precious madness,
Coupe enchant?es o? s??garent mes sens Enchanted cup where my senses wander
Vous dire adieu, Pouponne c?est trancher ma vie. To say goodbye to you, Pouponne, is to end my life.
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
Oui, le fatal d?cret, dict? par la famille Yes, the fatal decree, dictated by the family
Grave au coeur des amants une sombre fureur Grave in the hearts of lovers a dark fury
Mais quand le roi l?a dit logeant ? la Bastille But the King says that when one lives in the Bastille,
On s??tudie au frais ? r?former ses moeurs One has time to reflect upon their actions, by changing their
moral values.
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Ah, barbare, tyran, tu te ris de mes peines, Ah, barbarian, tyrant, you laugh at my sorrows,
Ce fer ? ton c?t?, plongele dans mon sein! This iron at your side, plunge into my bosom!
Mets donc fins ? mes jours ach?ve mon destin, Put an end to my life, complete my destiny,
Et cesse d?insulter ? ma douleur extr?me. And stop insulting my extreme pain.
Vous m??tez mon ?poux au nom de la famille You take my husband away from me in the name of the family
Que cet ordre m?enrage et me met en fureur This order enrages me and makes me furious
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Abominable loi d?une ingrate famille Abominable law of an ungrateful family
Que cet ordre m?enrage et me met en fureur This order enrages me and makes me furious
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
Mais en vain le d?cret du p?re de famille But in vain the decree of the father of the family
Vous met mes chers bijoux dans sombre fureur Puts you, my sweethearts, in dark fury
POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET - L?INSPECTEUR POUPONNE - MISTOUFLET - L?INSPECTEUR
Pourtant le roi l?a dit logeant ? la Bastille Yet the King says that when one lives in the Bastille
On s??tudie au frais ? r?former ses moeurs. One has time to reflect upon their actions, by changing their
moral values.
7. Duo - Scene 8 7. Duo - Scene 8
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Juste ciel, les revoil?! Fair heavens, here they are again!
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
Voici, me semble-t-il, un merlan et un bottier. Ils viennent de la Here, it seems to me, is a hairdresser and a shoemaker. They
part de milord Mac Sennet. come from Lord Mac Sennet.
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Il faut que je leur parle, Mistouflet. Je sens bien que si l?on me I must talk to them, Mistouflet. I feel that if they put me in the
met ? l?h?pital, j?en tomberai malade? Je vous laisse un hospital, I will fall ill... I'll leave you for a moment.
moment.
47
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
Causons un peu, jeune homme. Let's talk a bit, young man.
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Et moi, grand Dieu! Quelle position! Je me vois entre le And me, great God! What a position! I find myself between the
Ch?telet et la Bastille, comment traverser cet embarras! Ch?telet and the Bastille, how will I get through this tough spot!
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
C?dez donc la mignonne ? milord Mac Sennet, Monsieur le Give the darling to Milord Mac Sennet, Monsieur le Chevalier,
chevalier, cela arrangera tout. that will settle everything.
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Jamais! Plut?t mourir! Never! I?d rather die!
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
Oh jeunesse, oh incons?quence! Milord est fou des charmes Oh youth, oh inconsequence! Milord is mad about the charms
de Pouponne, il m?dite de la faire entrer ? l?Op?ra pour faire of Pouponne, he considers letting her enter the opera to make
crever de jalousie ce grand cheval de Cleophile qu?un prince this great horse of Cleophile die of jealousy, which a Russian
moscovite lui a enlev?e. prince has taken away from him.
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Pouponne ? l?Op?ra! Jamais. Plut?t mourir! Pouponne at the opera! Never. I?d choose death!
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
D?lire, balivernes, encore un mot, fariboles? La petite ne Craziness, nonsense, one more word, poppycock... The little
pourra plus ?tre mise ? l?h?pital, elle sera pensionnaire du one can no longer be put in the hospital, she?ll be a ward of the
roi? crown...
Et quand le roi l?a dit, And when the king spoke
Chantant ? l?Op?ra, Of singing at the opera,
On se rit des fureurs We laughed at the fury
De son cher vieux papa Of the dear old papa
En vain d?Arpajon, In vain from Arpajon,
La trame va s?ourdir, The weft will become thin,
Sous le sceptre du prince, Under the sceptre of the prince,
L?enfant enfin respire. The child finally breathes.
L?INSPECTEUR - MISTOUFLET L?INSPECTEUR - MISTOUFLET
Sous le sceptre du prince, Under the sceptre of the prince,
L?enfant enfin respire. The child finally breathes.
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Et qui me paiera mes dettes, ? moi? And who will pay my debts?
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
N??tes-vous pas aim?? Are you not loved?
MISTOUFLET MISTOUFLET
Follement. Madly.
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
Alors? mais voici Pouponne. Son air me para?t des plus So? but here is Pouponne. Her air seems most reassured to
rass?r?n?s. me.
8. Forlane - Scene 9 8. Forlane - Scene 9
POUPONNE POUPONNE
On me parle d?un gentil homme They talk to me about a nice man.
Aimable et riche et me dit-on Kind and rich, and they tell me
Tr?s amoureux de ma personne, He?s very much in love with me,
?tranger mais de fort bon ton A foreigner but in good taste
48
Ceci vaut bien qu?on en raisonne This is well worth considering
Car il m?envoie, voyez, ma foi, For he sends me, see, gracious me,
Des girandoles, des girandoles Fireworks, fireworks
Ceci vaut bien qu?on en raisonne This is well worth considering
Je ne sais s?il a de l?esprit I don't know if he has any sense
Cet article n?est point port? This item is not worn
Sur le billet qu?on m?a remis On the ticket I was given
Mais sa plume a des probit?s But his pen has integrity
Dont on peut rester attendrie, Of which we can remain tender,
Car il m?envoie, voyez, ma foi, For he sends me, see, gracious me,
Trois milles pistoles, trois milles pistoles Three thousand pistoles, three thousand pistoles
Ceci vaut bien qu?on en raisonne This is well worth considering
Se faisant scrupule en causant Having scruples while talking
De g?ter la conversation, To spoil the conversation,
On le dit badin cependant. Is said to be mischievous, however,
Je lui rendrai satisfaction I will satisfy him
Car ne troublant point son penchant Because not troubling his inclination
Il n?aura de moi sur ma foi, He will only get from me, on my faith,
Qu?un bonheur sans parole But a wordless happiness
Qu?un bonheur sans parole? But a wordless happiness...
9. Scene 10 9. Scene 10
L?INSPECTEUR L?INSPECTEUR
Cet ?cossais revient des ?les This Scotsman returns from the islands
Ceci le rend int?ressant Which makes him interesting
Il pousse l? bas des diamants He grows diamonds there
Comme ? Paris des imb?ciles Like imbeciles in Paris
J?ai ou? dire que le soupirant I have to say that the suitor
P?rit de fi?vre et de mal blanc, Perishes of fever and white sickness,
Et vous serez bient?t tranquille. And will soon be quiet.
LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER - L?INSPECTEUR LE MERLAN - LE BOTTIER - L?INSPECTEUR
Cet ?cossais revient des ?les This Scotsman returns from the islands
Ceci le rend int?ressant Which makes him interesting
Il pousse l? bas des diamants He grows diamonds there
Comme ? Paris des imb?ciles Like imbeciles in Paris
J?ai ou? dire que le soupirant I have heard it said that the suitor
P?rit de fi?vre et de mal blanc, Perishes of fever and white sickness,
Et vous serez bient?t tranquille. And will soon be quiet
10. Final - Scene 11: Tous 10. Final - Scene 11: Tous
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Ah, que m'importe le Cal?donien, Ah, what does the Caledonian matter to me,
Bientot de l'Op?ra, je serai la deesse Soon from the Opera, I will be the goddess
On m'y verra briller, clans l'?clat purpurin You will see me shine there, in the purpurin radiance
D'une parure enchanteresse... With an enchanting appearance...
Et de Monsieur Rameau And Mr. Rameau
Embellissant les airs? Beautifying the air...
Je ferai des ah? I will do ?ah??
Sur des modes divers ah? In various modes ?ah??
49
TOUS ALL
Ah quel aimable d?nouement Oh what a lovely ending
Ah quelle heureuse catastrophe Oh what a happy disaster
POUPONNE POUPONNE
De Monsieur Piccini j?entonnerai les strophes I will sing the stanzas of Monsieur Piccini
Et de Monsieur Destouches les suaves psalmodies And the sweet psalmodies of Monsieur Destouches
TOUS ALL
Ah! Que la conclusion me touche Ah! How the conclusion touches me
Ah quelle sublime trag?die Oh what a sublime tragedy
POUPONNE POUPONNE
Reine ou berg?re, fille ou m?re Queen or shepherdess, daughter or mother
Vierge sacr?e ou confidente aust?re Sacred virgin or austere confidante
Rivale ou amante ador?e Rival or adored lover
Noble perfide ou sacrifi?e False noble or sacrifice
N?en doutez pas je serai sans pareille Do not doubt it I will be without equal
Car j?ai la gorge faite ainsi qu?une merveille Because my breasts are made like a marvel
Et nul n?ignore And everyone knows
Veut qu?? Paris Desires only in Paris
Tienne dans le corsage What is in the bodice
TOUS ALL
Ah! Que la conclusion me touche Ah! How the conclusion touches me
Ah quelle sublime trag?die Oh what a sublime tragedy
Et nul n?ignore que l?usage And everyone knows the custom
Tout le succ?s tienne dans le corsage All the success is in the bodice
Ah quelle sublime conclusion Oh what a wonderful conclusion
Ah quel aimable d?nouement Oh what a lovely ending
50
LE BEL AMBITIEUX
1. - Scene 1 1. - Scene 1
(parle sur la musique) (talking over the music)
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Ange... consens ? te fixer un instant sur la terre? Angel... please stay for a moment on the earth...
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Va... oublie-moi, mon enfant... je saurais encore pardonner et Go... forget me, my child... I would still know how to forgive and
b?nir? bless...
2. Duo 2. Duo
(toujours parl? sur la musique jusqu'au chiffre 1) (always spoken on the music until the number 1)
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Tu blasph?mes, ch?re idole, t'oublier, moi? You blaspheme, my dear idol! Would you forget me?
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Est-ce donc impossible? Is it impossible?
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Demande au myosotis d'oublier son ruisseau, mais ne Ask the forget-me-not to forget its stream, but don't ask
demande pas ? Alphonse d'oublier Clementine? Alphonse to forget Clementine...
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Vous voyez bien que vous me faites souffrir... You can clearly see that you make me suffer...
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Tu souffres et je meurs You suffer and I die
Inexplicable amante inexplicable lover
Ton beau front fl?chissant Your beautiful bending brow
S?appuyant sur ma main Leaning on my hand
Me r?v?le le poids de ta pens?e ardente Reveals to me the weight of your ardent thought
Tu songes ? ma douleur You think of my pain
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Ah! Ta douleur m??treint Ah! Your pain embraces me
Ainsi que le vent tra?ne As the wind drags
Une feuille tomb?e A fallen leaf
Ta douleur te v?t tel un lourd manteau noir Your pain dresses you like a heavy black coat
Emporte dans ses plis mon ?me d?sol?e Carrying in its folds my desolate soul
Et ma vie se consume en un lent d?sespoir And my life is consumed in a slow despair
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Exhale ton d?lire Exhale your delusion
? sublime Oph?lie O sublime Ophelia
L?ve au ciel un regard aveugl? par les pleurs Raise to the sky a gaze blinded by tears
ALPHONSE - CL?MENTINE ALPHONSE-CLEMENTINE
Il entend des soupirs la divine harmonie He hears sighs of the divine harmony
Et moi j?entends l??cho qui me r?p?te: And I hear the echo repeating to me:
Elle (Il) meurt She (He) dies
Que le chaste repos d?une couche fun?bre The chaste rest of a funeral bed
Nous unisse ? jamais dans un m?me tombeau, Unite us forever in the same tomb,
Que dans l?ombre ?ternelle le G?nie des T?n?bres That in the eternal shadow the Genius of Darkness
Se taise et se recueille ?coutant nos sanglots Is silent and meditates listening to our sobs
Puisque sur nous la terre referme ses secrets, Since on us the earth closes its secrets,
Seul tu pourras dire jadis elle (il) m'aimait. Alone, you will be able to say once that she (he) loved me.
51
Scene 2 Scene 2
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Sonnez donc pour le th?, dear? So ring for tea, dear?
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Vous savez que je vais me faire sauter la cervelle? You know I'm gonna blow my brains out?
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
? propos de quoi, mon cher? About what, my dear?
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Trente mille francs perdus hier au jeu sur parole, cinq soeurs Thirty thousand francs lost on parole yesterday, five
? marier nich?es au ch?teau de Palpebral dont, par marriageable sisters nestled in the Ch?teau de Palpebral, the
parenth?ses, les derni?res ardoises sont tomb?es pendant la last slates of which, incidentally, fell during the Terror?
Terreur?
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(languissamment) (languidly)
Vraiment, mon ami... mais quelle id?e? Really, my love... what an idea?
3. Mazurka 3. Mazurka
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Ma ch?re j'examine la chose My dear I examine the thing
En vrai dandy As a true nobleman
Et je crois que rien ne s?oppose And I believe that nothing opposes
? ce parti This prospect
Le suicide est une ?l?gance Suicide is an elegance
De tr?s bon go?t Of very good taste
Et qui vous pose en ?vidence And which makes you a hot topic
Dans les raouts At a social gathering
Mais il serait d?un genre But it would be more
Supr?me et plus hardi Supreme and bolder
De partir tous les deux pour Br?me To leave together for Bremen
Ou Napoli. Or Napoli.
4. R?citatif 4. Recitative
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Partir pour Napoli, mais ce serait folie le voudrais je le puis je Leave for Napoli? But that would be madness. Would I, can I,
le dois je must I?
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Mais oui! Ne t?aim? je pas? But yes! Don?t I love you?
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Je n?y suis pour personne It?s not my fault.
PETIT JACQUES PETIT JACQUES
Le Baron Pschutt arrive de Lisbonne Madame Baron Pschutt arrives from Lisbon Madame
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Introduisez ce cher Baron Pschutt Alphonse pas un mot Introduce this dear Baron Pschutt. Alphonse, not a word
Chut! Chut! Chut! Chut! Hush! Hush! Hush! Hush!
52
Scene 4 Scene 4
LE BARON THE BARON
Mes hommages, Madame? My respects, Madame...
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Vous connaissez le Vicomte de Palpebral? Do you know the Viscount of Palpebral?
LE BARON THE BARON
Je n'ai pas cet honneur... mais je subodore que ce jeune I don't have that honor... but I suspect that this young
gentilhomme est ? la veille de perp?trer quelque sottise. gentleman is about to perpetrate some mischief.
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Et comment le savez-vous, Monsieur? And how do you know that, sir?
LE BARON THE BARON
Je sais tout, je vois tout, je me tais. I know everything, I see everything, I keep it quiet.
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Alors, Baron, dites-moi ce que je dois faire? So, Baron, tell me what to do...
5. Air - Scene 5 5. Air - Scene 5
LE BARON THE BARON
Si vous voulez vous pousser If you want to enter
Dans la sph?re politique The political sphere
Il vous faut sans h?siter You definitely need to
Faire un ouvrage historique Make a historical work
T?tez moi la question d?Orient Try me a question of the East
C?est un sujet amusant It's a fun topic
Soyez d?abord obscur, ?nigmatique, Be first obscure, enigmatic,
Usez de la figure all?gorique Use allegory
Surtout n?oubliez pas la pragmatique Above all, do not forget pragmatics
Mettez ici et l? du germanique Put Germanic here and there
N?en dites pas beaucoup Don't say much
Mais dites en assez But say enough
Affirmez fortement ce que vous ignorez. Strongly affirm what you do not know
Si vous r?ussissez, vous aurez du g?nie, If you succeed, you will have genius,
Et l?on vous emploiera dans la diplomatie. And you will be employed in diplomacy.
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(enthousiaste) (enthusiastic)
N'ajoutez rien Baron, vous m'avez d?cid?. Don't add anything Baron, you've convinced me.
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(inqui?te) (worry)
Ce livre, s'il le signe, faudra-t-il qu'il le lise? This book, if he signs it, will he have to read it?
LE BARON THE BARON
Vous ?tes ing?nue... ch?re comtesse. You are ingenuous... dear countess.
6. Trio Valse - Scene 6 6. Trio Valse - Scene 6
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Glissons d?un vol discret Let's slide with a discreet flight
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Courons d?un pied l?ger Let's run lightly
53
LE BARON THE BARON
Marchons d?un pas altier Let's walk with a proud step
CL?MENTINE - ALPHONSE - LE BARON CLEMENTINE - ALPHONSE - THE BARON
O? l?ambition nous porte Where ambition takes us
O? l?amour nous transporte Where love carries us
Vers les lambris dor?s Towards the golden paneling
Courons, glissons, volons Run, slide, fly
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
?crasant nos rivaux Crushing our rivals
Et m?prisant les sots, And despising fools,
Plantons notre banni?re Let's plant our banner
Au seuil du minist?re On the threshold of the ministry
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Glissons d?un vol discret Let's slide with a discreet flight
Au sein des cabinets Within the offices
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Courons d?un pied l?ger Let's run lightly
LE BARON THE BARON
Marchons d?un pas altier Let's walk with a proud step
Vers les salons dor?s Towards the golden salon
CL?MENTINE - ALPHONSE - LE BARON CLEMENTINE - ALPHONSE - THE BARON
O? l?ambition nous porte Where ambition takes us
O? l?amour nous transporte Where love carries us
LE BARON THE BARON
?tudiant les d?tours Studying the detours
Des plus illustres cours, Of the most illustrious courts,
Sachons ? l?occasion Let?s be able to sometime
Redorer nos blasons Restore your prestige
Scene 7 Scene 7
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(Ianguissante) (Ianguishing)
Vicomte?... Sonnez donc pour le th?. Viscount?... Ring the bell for tea.
LE BARON THE BARON
D?coction ultra-diplomatique, en ce qu'elle refroidit Most diplomatic potion, in that it considerably cools the lymph
consid?rablement la lymphe et tonifie l'estomac. Le th? et le and tones the stomach. Tea and souvenirs explain British
keepsake expliquent la puissance britannique. power.
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Ceci est profond, mon cher. This is profound, good sir.
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Prodigieusement. Mais qu'attendez-vous? Sonnez pour le Abundantly. But what are you waiting for? Ring for tea...
th?... (on frappe) Qu'y a-t-il encore, Petit Jacques? (knock) What else is there, Little Jacques?
PETIT JACQUES PETIT JACQUES
(avec pr?caution) (with caution)
Madame, c'est Mademoiselle que Mademoiselle Berthe a Madame, it is Mademoiselle whom Mademoiselle Berthe
d?pos?e chez Mademoiselle S?raphine et qui vient d'arriver dropped off at Mademoiselle S?raphine and who has just
dans le briska de Mademoiselle Emerentienne? arrived in Mademoiselle Emerentienne's carriage...
54
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(agit?e) (agitated)
Mademoiselle! Mais quel jour sommes-nous donc? Mademoiselle! But what day is it?
LE BARON THE BARON
Hum, hum, hum? Hmm, um, um?
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(? part) (aside)
Peste... on me cache quelque chose? Plague... something is being hidden from me...
PETIT JACQUES PETIT JACQUES
(de plus en plus constern?) (increasingly dismayed)
Le jour de la naissance de Madame la comtesse, Madame... The day of the birth of Madame the Countess, Madame...
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(de plus en plus agit?e) (increasingly agitated)
Mais alors, elle est l?? But then, is she there?
PETIT JACQUES PETIT JACQUES
(lugubre) (dismal)
Oui, Madame. Mademoiselle est l? avec un bouquet. Yes Madam. Mademoiselle is there with a bouquet.
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(sans voix) (voiceless)
Un bouquet? A bouquet?
LE BARON THE BARON
Hum, hum, hum? Hmm, um, um?
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(? part) (aside)
Le r?cit de ce vieillard jette Cl?mentine dans un trouble This news throws Clementine into a frightful confusion. All this
affreux. Tout ceci me semble sibyllin, mais je saurai la v?rit?! seems cryptic to me, but I will know the truth!
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Qu'elle aille dans sa chambre. Let her go to her room.
PETIT JACQUES PETIT JACQUES
Mademoiselle se propose de r?citer un compliment ? Mademoiselle proposes to recite a compliment to Madame.
Madame.
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(mourante) (dying)
Je suis perdue? I'm lost?
PETIT JACQUES PETIT JACQUES
(haute voix) (high voice)
Mademoiselle Euphrasie demande ? pr?senter ses devoirs ? Mademoiselle Euphrasie asks to present her homework to
Madame? Madame?
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Seigneur? Lord?
PETIT JACQUES PETIT JACQUES
(s'?loignant) (walking away)
Entrez Mademoiselle... Madame vous attend. Enter Mademoiselle... Madame is waiting for you.
55
7. Romance - Scene 8 7. Romance - Scene 8
EUPHRASIE EUPHRASIA
En ce beau jour de votre f?te On your beautiful feast day
Que je me plais ma ch?re maman How I like it dear mother
? ne compter sur votre t?te Would no more be counted on your head
Que le poids toujours ravissant Than the always lovely weight
De quarante et deux printemps. Of forty-two springs.
Une m?re est toujours contente A mother is always happy
Du doux aveu de la candeur, From a sweet sincere confession,
Et je vois que je vous enchante And I see that I enchant you
Mais ne d?robez pas vos pleurs But don't hide your tears
Sous une main tremblante. Under a trembling hand.
7bis. R?citatif 7b. Recitative
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Il suffit, Mademoiselle, je vous l?ordonne. Enough, Mademoiselle, I command you.
Sortez! Et ne reparaissez que si je vous appelle. Get out! And don't come back unless I call you.
EUPHRASIE EUPHRASIA
Mais maman, je n?ai pas final c?est la fin le plus joli. But mom, I haven?t finished the ending, it's the prettiest ending.
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Vous me l?enverez par la poste. Allez sortez point de riposte. You can mail it to me. Go, leave without response.
Scene 9 Scene 9
LE BARON THE BARON
(? part) (aside)
Le tact ici conseille que sans vaine p?roraison je m'?clipse par Prudence here advises that I slip away by the hidden door and,
la porte d?rob?e et que, dans le salon voisin,  j'aille ?tudier les in the next room, study the engravings of the misfortunes of
gravures qui repr?sentent les malheurs de Virgine. (ii sort) Virginia. (he leaves)
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(? part) (aside)
Nous sommes seuls, elle ne me cachera plus rien We are alone, she won't hide anything from me anymore
(haut d'un ton amer et hautain) (aloud in a bitter and haughty tone)
Ainsi, Madame, c'est votre fille? So, Madame, is this your daughter?
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(douloureuse) (painful)
Elle est horriblement menteuse... She's a terrible liar...
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Vous la disiez en nourrice ? Pont-aux-Dames? You mentioned a nurse at Pont-aux-Dames?
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Elle est tr?s grande pour son ?ge... d'ailleurs, elle raffole de la She is very tall for her age... besides, she loves the
campagne... countryside...
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(glacial) (glacial)
Un mot, un seul, Madame. Ce sera le dernier? One word, one word, Madame. This will be the last...
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(an d?sespoir) (in despair)
Ah... bourreau... Ah... executioner...
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Sa dot? Her dowry?
56
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(tr?s calme soudain) (suddenly very quiet)
Six cent mille francs et le petit domaine des Minaudi?res avec Six hundred thousand francs and the small domain of
la ferme, le moulin, les pr?s et le ch?teau. Minaudi?res with the farm, the mill, the meadows and the
castle.
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(noble et simple) (noble and simple)
Cl?mentine, j'?pouse ta fille. Clementine, I'm marrying your daughter.
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(ravie) (delighted)
Ciel! Tu l'epouserais? Heavens! Would you marry her?
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(froidement) (coldly)
Vous ne la reverrez jamais, sauf le jour des noces, c'est You'll never see her again, except on the wedding day, that's
concevable, c'est du reste!'usage, mais le soir m?me, foi de conceivable, that's the custom, but that same evening,
gentilhomme, je conduis la vicomtesse aux Minaudi?res. J'y gentleman?s honor, I take the Viscountess to the Minaudi?res. I
reste huit jours avec elle, et je reviens seul... seul, et tout a toi! stay there eight days with her, and I come back alone... alone,
and all yours!
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(r?veuse) (dreamy)
Tiens... mais pourquoi pas? Oh my... but why not?
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Je sauve la fortune des l'Estourbi, je restaure celle des I save the fortune of the Estourbi, I restore that of the
Palp?bral, vous restez jeune, et je deviens riche. Avouez, ma Palp?brals, you stay young and I become rich. Admit, my dear,
ch?re, que ce calcul passablement napol?onien a pourtant that this somewhat Napoleonic calculation has something
quelque chose de "comfortable"...? "comfortable" about it...?
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(transport?e) (transported)
Alphonse, vous ?tes le lion id?al... (soudain ?lan Alphonse, you are the ideal lion... (suddenly poetic-painful
po?tico-douloureux) Ah... mon ami, y pensez-vous! impulse) Ah... my love, do you think!
Vous donner ma fille, mon Euphrasie, cet ange... elle! ? vous! Give you my daughter, my Euphrasia, this angel... Her! to you!
Vous! ? elle! You! To her!
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(m?me ton) (same tone)
Quoi ! Vous h?sitez... Ah ! je comprends... vous ne m'aimez What? You hesitate... Ah! I understand... you don't love me
plus! anymore!
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Dilemme atroce... je suis m?re, je suis femme? Atrocious dilemma... I am a mother, I am a woman...
8. Duo tragique 8. Duo tragique
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Voici l?instant in?vitable et redout? Here the inevitable and dreaded moment
O? ce petit ?tre si follement aim? Where this little being so madly loved
Ce doux fruit de ma chair, This sweet fruit of my flesh,
Cette fleur de l??me This flower of the soul
S'?lan?ant vers son jeune amour va oublier Soaring towards her young love will forget
Soyez donc ?pouse, m?re, So be wife, mother,
Soyez femme Be a woman
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
? ingratitude moi O ingracious me
57
Qui sacrifie ? cette femme Who sacrifices to this woman
Idole que j?adore Idol that I adore
En lui demandant la main By asking for her hand
De son Euphrasie Of her Euphrasia
La flamme superbe, The superb flame,
Disons plus encore Let's say more
Le brazier de mes d?sirs The brazier of my desires
Les plus farouches car enfin, The fiercest because finally,
Cette Euphrasie, elle louche This Euphrasia, she's questionable
CL?MENTINE - ALPHONSE CLEMENTINE - ALPHONSE
Je te la donne (pardonne) I give it to you (Forgive me)
Je te pardonne (Tu me la donne) I forgive you (You give it to me)
Je te la donne (pardonne) I give it to you (Forgive me)
Scene 10 Scene 10
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(languissante) (languid)
Sonnez donc pour le th?, dear... (on frappe) Ring the bell for tea, dear... (knock)
EUPHRASIE EUPHRASIA
Ma ch?re maman, pardonnez-moi, j'ai oubli? mon mouchoir My dear mother, forgive me, I forgot my handkerchief on the lid
sur le couvercle du forte? of the piano...
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Pourquoi pleurez-vous? Why are you crying?
EUPHRASIE EUPHRASIA
J'?tais ? c?t?, avec le Baron Pschutt; il me racontait le I was next door, with Baron Pschutt; he told me about the
congr?s de V?rone; je pleure toujours quand je b?ille?. Congress of Verona; I always cry when I yawn?
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(? part) (aside)
Elle a quelque chose de la nature des hu?tres, mais elle est She has something reminding me of the quality of oysters, but
d?licieusement sotte, ? la fa?on des paniers? she is delightfully stupid, more like the oyster baskets...
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Prenez votre mouchoir, tenez-vous droite. Vous allez ?pouser Take your handkerchief, stand up straight. You are going to
Monsieur. marry the gentleman.
EUPHRASIE EUPHRASIA
Oui, maman. Yes mom.
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
(lyrique) (lyrical)
Ah... Mademoiselle... vous me rendez fou de bonheur. Un seul Ah... Mademoiselle... you make me thrilled. One word, one
mot, un seul regard, un seul sourire, un seul jour? look, one smile, one day...
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
(s?chement) (dryly)
Contenez-vous, il n'y a personne... Control yourself, there is no one... Ah yes...
Ah si... voici Petit Jacques et le Baron... Continuez Alphonse... Here is Petit Jacques and the Baron... Continue Alphonse...
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Ah... Mademoiselle? Oh... Miss...
EUPHRASIE EUPHRASIA
Ah... Monsieur? Oh... sir...
58
Scene 11 Scene 11
LE BARON THE BARON
(?mu et paternel) (moved and paternal)
Un vieil ami, ch?re comtesse, ?coute toujours un peu aux An old friend, dear Countess, always listens a bit at the door...
portes...
PETIT JACQUES PETIT JACQUES
(larmoyant) (tearful)
De m?me qu'un vieux domestique, Madame? As well as an old servant, Madame...
LE BARON THE BARON
Agr?ez mes compliments pour ce ravissant bonheur. Accept my compliments for this delightful happiness.
Vicomte? Viscount?
PETIT JACQUES PETIT JACQUES
(toujours larmoyant) (still tearful)
Quelle satisfaction pour un serviteur fid?le, que de voir marier What satisfaction for a faithful servant, to see Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle si peu de temps apr?s avoir vu marier married so soon after having seen Madame married...
Madame?
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
La douce ?motion qui m'?touffe m'?te la parole, mes amis...Il The sweet emotion that suffocates me leaves me speechless,
me faudrait mon th?, il me faudrait mon th?... my friends...I need my tea, I need my tea...
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Comment exprimerais-je, Messieurs, l'ivresse d'un homme qui How would I express, gentlemen, the exhilaration of a man
embrasse enfin le but de ses insomnies? who finally embraces the goal of his sleepless nights?
EUPHRASIE EUPHRASIA
Je voudrais bien savoir quoi dire, moi? I would like to know what to say, I...
9. Final - Scene 12 9. Final - Scene 12
LE BARON THE BARON
Parfaite et charmante Euphrasie, Perfect and charming Euphrasia,
Ne sonnez mot je vous en prie. Please don't say a word.
Gardez donc ce silence exquis So keep this exquisite silence
Et cet air vraiment surpris. And that really surprised look.
9bis. Valse nuptiale 9b. Valse nuptiale
EUPHRASIE EUPHRASIA
Monsieur je vous admire Sir i admire you
De trouver tant ? dire Finding so much to say
Et votre style orn? And your ornate style
Me porte ? vous aimer Makes me love you
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Allons d?un bond gracieux Let's take a graceful leap
Par les autels radieux By radiant altars
O? l?ambition nous porte Where ambition takes us
O? l?amour nous transporte Where love carries us
CL?MENTINE CLEMENTINE
Ce mariage heureux This happy marriage
Qui comble tous nos voeux Which fulfills all our wishes
Nous donne avec des rentes, Gives us with annuities,
Une belle m?re charmante. A charming mother-in-law.
59
CL?MENTINE - PETIT JACQUES - LE BARON CLEMENTINE - LITTLE JACQUES - THE BARON
Allez, charmants ?poux Come on, lovely spouses
Berc?s par des mots fous Lulled by crazy words
Oui l?ambition vous porte Yes, ambition takes you
Et l?amour vous transporte And love carries you
EUPHRASIE EUPHRASIA
Monsieur je vous admire Sir i admire you
De trouver tant ? dire Finding so much to say
Et votre style orn? And your ornate style
Me porte ? vous aimer Makes me love you
ALPHONSE ALPHONSE
Allons d?un bond gracieux Let's take a graceful leap
Par les autels radieux By radiant altars
O? l?ambition nous porte Where ambition takes us
O? l?amour nous transporte Where love carries us
ALPHONSE - PETIT JACQUES - LE BARON ALPHONSE - LITTLE JACQUES - THE BARON
Allons d?un bond gracieux Let's take a graceful leap
Par les autels radieux By radiant altars
O? l?ambition nous porte Where ambition takes us
O? l?amour nous transporte Where love carries us
60
LA PAUVRE EUG?NIE
Premi?re tranche de vie First Slice of Life
(parlesur la musique) (spoken over the music)
LE PATRON LE PATRON
O??s qu?elle est donc la patronne? C?te grande carne. O??s Where's the boss? It?s your big meat. Where is she then?
qu?elle est donc?
TITINE TITINE
Alle est sortie chercher des pommes? Is she out looking for apples?
LE PATRON LE PATRON
O??s qu?elle est donc la patronne? J?crois qu?elle oublie son Where's the boss then? I think she forgot her beef stew.
miroton
PAULA PAULA
C?est pas pour dire. Il est sciant s?t?homme. No offense. He's outstanding.
LE PATRON LE PATRON
J?vas m?foutre en rogue c?est emb?tant ?a m?abime le I'm going to get mad, it's annoying, it enrages my temper
temp?rament
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Faut pas vous f?cher M?sieru Ernesse Don't get angry M'sieur Ernesse
On n?y va pas c?est qu?l?ouvrage presse We're not going there, it's because the work is urgent
Y a six jupons qu?on est apr?s. We're after six petticoats.
Le miroton. Faurdrait l?tourner The beef stew. We should stir it
Passez donc la queuill?re en fer So pass the spoon
Qu?est pendue ? la cuisini?re That?s hanging on the stove
LE PATRON LE PATRON
O? veux tu que j?trouve ta queuill?re Where do you want me to find your spoon
Viens t?occuper d??a c?est pas mon affaire Come and take care of that, it's not my job
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Je viens juste le temps de poser mon d? I come with barely enough time to put down my thimble
LE PATRON LE PATRON
Tu peux bien v?nir avec ton d?, pochet?e. You can come with your thimble, pocketed.
PAULA PAULA
Alla bien tort de s?laisser faire He was very wrong to let himself be pushed around
L?patron c?est un bon ? rien faire The boss is good for nothing
Toujours assis dans d?te cuisine Always sitting in the kitchen
Y d?vient si gros ma pauvre Titine He?s getting so big, my poor Titine,
Qu?y a pus moyen de l??ter d?l? That there?s no way to get him out of there
TITINE TITINE
C?est pourtant vrai c?que tu dis l? It is however true what you say
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Laissez moi donc Then let me
TITINE - PAULA TITINE - PAULA
Qu?est-ce que t?as Eug?nie? What's wrong with you Eug?nie?
Ah! Mon Dieu qu?est-ce qu?elle a? Ah! My God, what's wrong with her?
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Apr?s l?instant After the moment
o? je me suis livr?e Where I surrendered
Au souffle glorieux du printemps To the glorious breath of spring
61
Au seuil de ma seizi?me ann?e On the threshold of my sixteenth year
Et ? ce Monsieur J. Duplan And to this Mr. J. Duplan
Depuis ce jour plein d?illusions Since that day full of illusions
Je suis le jouet des passions I am the plaything of passions
TITINE TITINE
Eug?nie dis la verit? Eug?nie, tell the truth
PAULA PAULA
Eug?nie ne nous cache rien Eug?nie, hide nothing from us
TITINE TITINE
C?est la vie That's life
PAULA PAULA
C?est la destin It's destiny
TITINE TITINE
C?est s?r le patron t?a pinc?e For sure the boss caught you
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
(refoulant ses larmes) (holding back her tears)
Allons mes enfants, le travail attend? Come on my children, work awaits...
PAULA PAULA
Du coup, j?ai perdu mon devant? Suddenly, I lost my front...
TITINE TITINE
Tiens Paula, le vl?a. J??tais assise dessus? Here Paula, here it is. I was sitting on it...
Deuxi?me tranche de vie Second Slice of Life
MADAME PH?MIE MADAME PH?MIE
Mes compliments, l?ouvrage avance, My compliments, the work is progressing,
On a beau vous dire qu?c?est press?, que?c?est pour une noce, No matter how much we tell you it?s urgent, it's for a wedding,
Ces demoiselles, ?a chante des romances These ladies sing romances
Mais qu?est-ce qu?elle chantera Mame Fild?cosse But what will she sing Mame Fild?cosse
Quand elle aura pas le trousseau de sa demoiselle When she won't have her young lady's wedding clothes
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Mame Ph?mie regardez ce jupon Mame Ph?mie, look at this petticoat
C?est presque fini il manque plus que la dentelle It's almost finished, all that's missing is the lace
MADAME PH?MIE MADAME PH?MIE
Mis?re, Mais c?t?horreur Misery, oh it's horrible
C?te d?goutation j?peux pas y croire elle mange du saucisson This disgusting thing, I can't believe it, she eats garlic sausage.
? l?ail.
Du saucisson ? l?ail, elle salit tout son travail! Je vous mets With garlic sausage she dirties all her work! I'll kick you out, in
dehors, illico presto. Faites votre paquet, Mame Eug?nie, au no time. Pack your things, Mame Eug?nie, quick! (spoken) I
trot! (parl?) Je veux des filles s?rieuses ici, pas de want serious girls here, not pranksters?
farceuses?
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
(belle indignation) (beautiful indignation)
Je ne suis pas une fille s?rieuse, moi! I'm not a serious girl!
Le Rond de saucisson de l?ouvri?re honn?te The sausage ring of the honest worker
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Pauvre et laborieuse fille de Paris Poor and hard-working girl from Paris
D?un rond de saucisson, je me nourris From a circle of sausage, I eat
62
Que je vais, la journ?e finie That I will, at the end of the day
Manger sur un banc du square Morny Eat on a bench in Square Morny
Par son odeur probe et sinc?re By its honest and sincere smell
Qui fleure bon la m?nag?re Who reminds you of a housewife
Il me garde des adult?res It guards me from the adulteries
Qu?adonne le patchouli pervers That accompany the perverse patchouli
Nul ne me suit, nul ne m?arr?te, No one follows me, no one stops me,
Je vais droit en levant le t?te I walk straight with my head up
Fi?re d??tre l?ouvri?re honn?te Proud to be the honest worker
Honte au f?tard en goguette Shame on the partygoers enjoying themselves
Troisi?me tranche de vie Third Slice of Life
MADAME PH?MIE MADAME PH?MIE
?a cause comme une vraie f?ministe She talks like a real feminist
?a raisonne comme une vraie anarchiste She reasons like a real anarchist
Je n?veux pas d??a ? l?atelier I don't want that at the workshop
?a mettrait l?feu ? tout l?quartier It would spark outrage in the whole neighborhood
LE PATRON LE PATRON
J?t?attends d?puis une heure trois quart I've been waiting for you for an hour and a quarter
?a va barder nom d?un p?tard There?s gonna be hell to pay
MADAME PH?MIE MADAME PH?MIE
Oui mon Ernesse, oui mon tr?sor, Yes my Ernesse, yes my treasure,
C?est pas ma faute si j?suis en r?tard It's not my fault if I'm late
TITINE TITINE
Ce vieux chameau... Causons d'une sauterelle, ?a alors... This old camel... Let's talk about a locust, gosh... it's not a
c'est pas une femme, c?est une sangsue? woman, it's a leech...
PAULA PAULA
T'as raison, Titine... Mame Ph?mie, c'est une m?nagerie You're right, Titine... Mame Ph?mie, it's a menagerie
? elle toute seule; mais faut penser ? Eug?nie, on her own; but you have to think of Eug?nie,
la v'la sans place, la pauvre cr?ature? She has no place to live, the poor creature...
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Je sais ce qui me reste ? faire? I know what I have to do...
PAULA PAULA
?coute voir, j'ai un ami qu'a une jolie situation, So listen, I have a friend who has a nice situation,
il est homme-tronc ? la Foire du Trone, para?t que dans sa he is a limbless man at the Foire du Trone, it seems that in his
baraque on cherche une femme sans t?te... barrack they are looking for a headless woman...
Si t'allais te pr?senter? What if you were going to introduce yourself?
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Femme sans tete? J'aurais pas la patience. Headless woman? I wouldn't have the patience.
TITINE TITINE
Moi aussi, j'ai un ami. Lui, c'est pas foulant son travail. Il ?crit I too have a friend. He?s not trampling on his work. He writes
des livres . Quand il a fini, il recopie, et quand il a fini de books. When he's finished, he rewrites, and when he's finished
recopier, il d?chire tout et il recommence. rewriting, he tears everything up and starts over.
PAULA PAULA
C'est original. It's original.
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
J'aurais pas la patience. I wouldn't have the patience.
63
PAULA PAULA
Faut quand m?me te chercher une position... You still have to find a position...
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Je vais aller me jeter dans la Seine. I'm going to throw myself in the Seine.
Quatri?me tranche de vie Fourth Slice of Life
TITINE - PAULA TITINE - PAULA
Et ton enfant ch?re t?te frileuse And your child dear cold one
Pench?e au bord du nid ah, malheureuse Leaning on the edge of the nest ah, poor wretch
Ne sois pas m?re d?natur?e Don't be a twisted mother
TITINE TITINE
Eug?nie pense au gamin Eug?nie, think of the kid
PAULA PAULA
Et n?oublie pas ton orphelin And don't forget your orphan
M?sieur J. Duplan - Air M?sieur J. Duplan - Air
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
C?est l?enfant de M?sieur J. Duplan It is the child of Mr. J. Duplan
Un homme qui portait des gants blancs A man who wore white gloves
Qu?avait du linge en fin? baptiste Who owns the finest baptiste linen
Et qui citait les symbolistes And who quoted the symbolists
C?est pas qu?il ?tait tellement beau It's not that he was so handsome
Mais il ?tait chef de bureau But he was an office manager
Alors j?ai cru qu?il m??pous?rait. So I thought he would marry me.
Ces gens l?, c?est tellement parfait These people, it's so perfect
Et il m?a quitt? un beau jour And he left me one day
Just? au coin de la rue du four. Just around the corner of rue du four.
Quand il a su qu?j?allais ?tre il m?a dit: When he knew that I was pregnant he said to me:
J?suis d?j? grand p?re il ?tait n? aux colonies I'm already a grandfather, he was born in the colonies
Et on l?avait mari? tout p?tit. And we had married him as a child.
Il m?a expliqu? en pleurant He explained to me while crying
Qu?il n?avait pourtant qu?vingt neuf ans That he was only twenty nine years old
Le jour de la noce ? sa fille The day of his daughter?s wedding
Qu??tait une ?toile de quadrille That was a quadrille star
Ah, ?a, je n?lui reproche rien Ah, I don't blame him for anything
J?ai ?t? victime du destin I was a victim of fate
Apr?s l?instant After the moment
o? je me suis livr? where I surrendered
Au souffle glorieux du printemps, To the glorious breath of spring,
Au seuil de ma seizi?me ann?e On the threshold of my sixteenth year
Et ? ce Monsieur J. Duplan And to this Mr. J. Duplan
Depuis ce jour plein d?illusions Since that day full of illusions
Je suis le jouet des passions. I am the plaything of passions.
PAULA PAULA
Y a quelqu'un qui frappe... There is someone knocking...
TITINE TITINE
(voix aigu?) (high-pitched voice)
Entrez! Come in!
64
G?G?NE G?G?NE
C'est-y ici Mame Euph?mie, ling?re? Is she here, Madame Euph?mie, the laundry maid?
EUG?NIE - PAULA - TITINE EUG?NIE - PAULA - TITINE
Mame Euph?mie? C'est ici. Madame Euph?mie? She?s here.
PAULA PAULA
Qu'est-ce que vous y voulez? What do you want?
G?G?NE G?G?NE
J?suis La Belle Jardini?re... I am La Belle Jardini?re...
EUG?NIE - PAULA - TITINE EUG?NIE - PAULA - TITINE
Ah? Oh?
TITINE (? Paula) TITINE (to Paula)
C'est La Belle Jardini?re This is La Belle Jardiniere
G?G?NE G?G?NE
J?viens livrer le boa. I'm coming to deliver the boa.
EUG?NIE - PAULA - TITINE EUG?NIE - PAULA - TITINE
Le boa? The boa?
PAULA PAULA
ll vient livrer le boa. He comes to deliver the boa.
G?G?NE G?G?NE
Le boa en plumes d'autruche cyclamen pour Madame The pink ostrich feather boa for Madame Euph?mie.
Euph?mie.
Cinqi?me tranche de vie Fifth Slice of Life
TITINE TITINE
Un boa! Non, r?gardez moi ?a A  boa! No, look at that
C?te Mame Ph?mie qu?a l?air d?une perche It's Mame Ph?mie who looks like a pole
Elle va s?coller un boa mauve She's going to wear a purple boa
PAULA PAULA
S?mettre au cou un boa comme une cocotte Put a boa around your neck like a cocotte
Quand on vient d?mettre ? la rue When we have just put on the street
Une fille m?re c?est la vie c?est (t)honteux A young mother, it?s life, it's shameful
G?G?NE G?G?NE
Une fille m?re a la rue si c?est ?a le progr?s A young mother on the street if that's progress
C?est pas encore dit que je vais It's not sure yet that I'm going
Lui livrer son boa To give her the boa
TITINE TITINE
M?me que la v?la qui veut s?d?truire She wants to destroy herself on top of that
PAULA PAULA
Tout ?a pour un rond d?saucisson All that for a round of sausage
G?G?NE G?G?NE
Mais o? est-elle? But where is she?
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
C?est moi! It's me!
65
TITINE - PAULA TITINE - PAULA
C?est Eug?nie l?amie ? M?sieur J. Duplan This is Eug?nie, the friend of Mr. J. Duplan
G?G?NE G?G?NE
Tu t?appelles Eug?nie Your name is Eug?nie
Je m?appelle G?g?ne My name is G?g?ne
Vois-tu c?est le destin You see it's destiny
Qui pr?s de toi m?am?ne Who brings me near to you
J?apportais le boa I brought the boa
Et je trouve mon Eve And I find my Eve
Ne me repousse pas Don't push me away
Ne d?truis pas un r?ve Don't destroy a dream
Viens avec moi petite Come with me little one
Allons vers les ivresses Let's go to euphoria
Allons vers le bonheur Let's go to the happiness of
Des ardentes caresses Ardent caresses
EUG?NIE EUG?NIE
Oui je vais avec toi, libre, forte et heureuse Yes I'm going with you, free, strong and happy
Quittant sans un regret l'infernale exploiteuse Leaving the infernal exploiter without a regret
Son boa cyclamen son affreux miroton His pink boa, her awful beef stew
Les jupons de la noce M?sieur Ernesse le patron The petticoats of the wedding, Mr. Ernesse the boss
Oublieuse ? jamais du fameux M?sieur Duplan Forgetful forever of the famous M?sieur Duplan
Tu sera mon G?g?ne le p?re de mon enfant You will be my G?g?ne the father of my child
G?G?NE G?G?NE
Vers les Buttes Chaumont je vois un p?tit garni Towards the Buttes Chaumont I see a little furnished room
EUG?NIE - G?G?NE EUG?NIE - G?G?NE
O? le vin n?est pas cher Where the wine is not expensive
Et les chambres jolies And the pretty rooms
Les yeux clos j?aper?ois I see with my eyes closed
L'accueillante banquette The welcoming bench
O? assis c?te ? c?te Where we sit side by side
Effeuillant la p?querette Leafing the daisy
Nous redirons tout bas We will say in a whisper
Tendrement enlac?s Tenderly entwined
Les vers si ?mouvants de M?sieur Fran?ois Copp?e The moving verses of M?sieur Fran?ois Copp?e
Choeur Final Final Chorus
EUG?NIE - TITINE - PAULA - PH?MIE - PATRON - G?G?NE EUG?NIE - TITINE - PAULA - PH?MIE - PATRON - G?G?NE
Au fier soleil de Messidor In the proud sun of Messidor
Qu?Eug?nie est donc belle How beautiful is Eug?nie
Dans les bras de son G?g?ne In the arms of her G?g?ne
Par le printemps livr?e By the spring delivered
Elle s?en va dans l?aurore She leaves in the dawn
De la cit? nouvelle For the new city
Au souffle glorieux In the glorious breath
D?un fraternel ?t? Of a fraternal summer
C?est l?enfant de Paris She is the child of Paris
? l?oeil tendre et hardi With a tender and bold eye
EUG?NIE - TITINE EUG?NIE - TITINE
O? y?a G?g?ne, Mesdames il y?a l?plaisir Where G?g?ne is, ladies, there is pleasure
PAULA - PH?MIE - PATRON - G?G?NE PAULA - PH?MIE - PATRON - G?G?NE
Amoureux ?ternel ?perdument ch?ri Everlasting lover madly cherished
De tous les coeurs bris?s Of all the broken hearts
Qui rodent par les rues Who roam the streets
66
EUG?NIE - TITINE - PAULA - PH?MIE - PATRON - G?G?NE EUG?NIE - TITINE - PAULA - PH?MIE - PATRON - G?G?NE
O? y?a G?g?ne, Mesdames il y?a l?plaisir. Where G?g?ne is, ladies, there is pleasure.
67
M. PETITPOIS ACH?TE UN CH?TEAU
Scene 1 Scene 1
LE DUC LE DUC
Qu'en dites-vous Cun?gonde? What do you say Cun?gonde?
CUN?GONDE CUNEGONDE
(sans se compromettre) (without compromising herself)
Bah? Bah?
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
Cinquante mille francs, Monsieur le Due, c'est un prix? Fifty thousand francs, Monsieur Le Duc, is quite the price?
certes, le ch?teau le vaut, ce nonobstant les hypoth?ques certainly, the ch?teau is worth it, notwithstanding the
dont il est grev? et les avaries notables constat?es ici et l?? mortgages with which it is encumbered and the notable
damage observed here and there?
LE DUC LE DUC
Cun?gonde, qu'en dites-vous? Cun?gonde, what do you say?
CUN?GONDE CUNEGONDE
(toujours sans se compromettre) (always without compromising herself)
H?... b?? Hey... well...
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
(? part?) (aside)
Cette nourrice d?vou?e est sourde comme neuf tapis... This dutiful nanny is as deaf as nine rugs...
(haut) II est visible Monsieur le Due, que Madame Cun?gonde (aloud) It is apparent, Monsieur Le Duc, that Madame
adopte enti?rement ma position? Cun?gonde entirely adopts my position?
LE DUC LE DUC
Mais-z-encore, toujours-z-est-il, mon cher Notaire, que ce... But still, is it still, my dear Notary, that this... how do you put it?
comment dites-vous? ce Petit-Haricot me semble bien ch?tif this Petit-Haricot seems to me a very puny character to live in
personnage pour loger dans un si vaste domaine. such a vast domain.
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
Monsieur Petitpois, Monsieur le Duc est un c?l?bre industriel Monsieur Petitpois, Monsieur Le Duc is a famous industrialist
dont les inventions ont retenu l'attention de Sa Majest? whose inventions caught the attention of His Majesty the
l'Empereur, ? la derni?re Exposition? Emperor at the last Exposition?
LE DUC LE DUC
Ah... voui, voui... l'Empereur... tr?s gentil gar?on... Eh bien... Ah... yes, yes... the Emperor... very nice boy... Well... let's walk
marchons pour vos Pois, mon cher Pointillard. Je suis p?re for your peas, my dear Pointillard. I am a father you know.
vous le savez.
CUN?GONDE CUNEGONDE
H?las. Alas.
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
H?las. Alas.
LE DUC LE DUC
Nous attendons, d'ailleurs, le lieutenant d'un moment ? l'autre. We are expecting, by the way, the lieutenant any moment now.
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
(un tantinet ironique) (a tad ironic)
Avec une jolie culotte, comme d'habitude. With pretty panties, as usual.
LE DUC LE DUC
II s'amende consid?rablement. II vient de quitter He is improving considerably. He has just left Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle Pluch?rie Badaboum des Vari?t?s Amusantes. Pluch?rie Badaboum of Vari?t?s Amusantes.
68
(changeant de ton) En croirai-je mes yeux? N'est-ce pas notre (changing tone) Will I believe my eyes? Isn't it our dear
cher Adelestan que j'aper?ois ? l'entr?e de la galerie? Adelestan that I see at the entrance to the gallery?
Scene 2 Scene 2
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Mon p?re! My father!
LE DUC LE DUC
Bonjour, lieutenant. Hello, lieutenant.
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Ah, nounou... si tu savais... je ne tiens plus en place... Mais Ah, nanny... if you only knew... I can't sit still... But it's the
c'est le notaire... Comment va, Pointillard? Figurez-vous que notary... How are you, Pointillard? Imagine that I just met in
je viens de rencontrer ? Romorantin la plus jolie, la plus Romorantin the prettiest, the most enticing, the blondest of
aguichante, la plus blonde des filles d'Eve? Eve's daughters...
LE DUC - CUN?GONDE - POINTILLARD LE DUC - CUN?GONDE - POINTILLARD
(constem?s) (contested)
? Romorantin? In Romorantin?
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Ce petit tr?sor aux yeux bleus trimbalaient deux ganaches, This blue-eyed little treasure was carting around two
une esp?ce de cr?tin en carrick et un gros tetard, s?rement le blockheads, a kind of nitwit in a car and a big tadpole, probably
papa, garni d'une cha?ne de montre ? se prendre les pieds the dad, wearing a watch chain to trip over?
dedans?
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
(m?me jeu) (same game)
Seigneur! Vous le v?tes ? la gare ? Lord! Did you see him at the station?
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
(surpris) (surprised)
Sans doute... je les vis ? la gare. No doubt... I saw them at the station.
LE DUC THE DUKE
(m?me jeu) (same game)
? la gare... Adelestan, mon enfant... At the station... Adelestan, my child...
CUN?GONDE CUNEGONDE
(meme jeu) (same game)
Oh la la, mon fanfan? Oh la la, my boy
POINTILLARD SPOTLIGHT
(m?me jeu) (same game)
Ah mon lieutenant... Oh my lieutenant...
1. Un joli hussard 1. Un joli hussard
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Un joli hussard voyez vous A good horseman you see
Ne redoute point les hasards Doesn?t fear the odds
? la guerre il est un peu fou In the war he is a little crazy
En amour il est foudroyant In love he is deadly
CUN?GONDE - LE NOTAIRE - LE DUC CUN?GONDE - LE NOTAIRE - LE DUC
Adelestan tan tan, Adelestan tan tan Adelestan tan tan, Adelestan tan tan
C?est un instant critique It's a critical moment
Attention mon enfant, attention mon fan fan Watch out my child, watch out my boy
Mon lieut?nant attention Ade Ade Adelestan My lieutenant, attention, Ade Ade Adelestan
69
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Et quand une belle croyez moi And when a beauty believe me
Fait de l?oeil sous son ombrelle Makes eyes at me under her parasol
Mon coeur aussit?t en ?moi My heart immediately in turmoil
Me bat la charge ?perdument Beats me to death
CUN?GONDE - LE NOTAIRE - LE DUC CUN?GONDE - LE NOTAIRE - LE DUC
Adelestan tan tan, Adelestan tan tan Adelestan tan tan, Adelestan tan tan
C?est un instant critique It's a critical moment
Attention mon enfant, attention mon fan fan Watch out my child, watch out my boy
Mon lieut?nant attention Ade Ade Adelestan My lieutenant, attention, Ade Ade Adelestan
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Mais sur le terrain, sacrebleu But on the ground, good lord
Jamais je ne manquais d?entrain I never lacked enthusiasm
Je fais honneur ? mes a?eux I honor my ancestors
Expliquez moi vos b?gaiements Explain to me your stutters
CUN?GONDE CUN?GONDE
Monsieur Le Duc? les v?l? tout juste, Les Petitpois? Monsieur Le Duc? here they are, The Petitpois?
Scene 3 Scene 3
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
(? part?) (aside)
Ah... e'est elle, e'est bien elle? Ah... that's her, that's her...
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
(? part?) (aside)
Monsieur le Due, permettez-moi de vous presenter Monsieur Monsieur Le Duc, allow me to introduce Monsieur Petitpois
Petitpois et son neveu... and his nephew...
ORESTE ORESTES
Oreste Petitpois. Oreste Petitpois.
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Et voici ma demoiselle, ma fille unique, mon Helo'ise... And here is my lady, my only daughter, my Helo?se...
ORESTE ORESTES
Ma fianc?e. My fianc?e.
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
(? part?) (aside)
Je m'en doutais. I suspected it.
LE DUC LE DUC
Mon fils, Adelestan de la Bombardiere. My son, Adelestan de la Bombardiere.
ORESTE ORESTES
(agressif) (aggressive)
Nous avons deja vu le lieutenant a Romorantin. We have already seen the lieutenant at Romorantin.
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
(incisif) (incisive)
Parfaitement. Absolutely..
ORESTE ORESTE
(mena?ant) (threatening)
Ouais. Yeah.
70
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
(d?bordant l'?loquence) (overflowing eloquence)
Monsieur le Due, j'ose dire que vous avez devant vous, en ma Monsieur Le Duc, I dare say that you have before you, in my
modeste personne, l'inventeur de l'universelle, de la humble person, the inventor of the universal, of the prodigious
prodigieuse ? Moustachette Petitpois ?, adoptee par sa "Moustachette Petitpois", adopted by his Majesty the Emperor
Majeste l'Empereur Napoleon et par toute sa cour, sans parler Napoleon and by all his court, without talk about the days of
des eours de Russie, d'Angleterre, d'Italie, de Baviere, de Russia, England, Italy, Bavaria, Bulgaria and "so on", which no
Bulgarie et de ? tutti Jes quanti ?, lesquelles ne eon oivent longer allow us to wear a mustache without the support of my
plus le port de la moustache sans l'appui demon appareil educational, hygienic and seductive apparatus? fully made of
edueatif, hygienique et sedueteur... entierement fail en silk and elastic binding?
filoselle et en liaison elastique?
LE DUC LE DUC
(?tonn?) (amazed)
Vraiment Monsieur? Really sir?
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
(affirmatif) (aflirmative)
Vraiment Monsieur. Really sir.
2. Valse tyrolienne ?La Moustachette? 2. Valse tyrolienne ?La Moustachette?
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Des fameux produits de l?industrie Famous products of the industry
Qu?un si?cle ?clair? se plait ? vanter That an enlightened century likes to boast about
Le plus merveilleux le moins co?teux The most wonderful the least expensive
C?est la moustachette Petitpois Is the Petitpois Mustachette
H?LO?SE - ORESTE H?LO?SE - ORESTE
C?est la la tou That's all
La moustachette The Petitpois Mustachette
pois
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Ce simple appareil dans le sommeil This simple device in sleep
Sans nuire au repos sans g?ter la peau Without disturbing your rest, without spoiling your skin
Se pose l?ger, souple et discret Sits light, flexible and discreet
C?est la moustachette Petitpois It's the Petitpois Mustachette
H?LO?SE - ORESTE H?LO?SE - ORESTE
C?est la la tou That's all
La moustachette The Petitpois Mustachette
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
C?est la moustache qui attache It's the mustache that attracts
Le sexe enchanteur ? l??poux vainquer The enchanting sex to the conquering husband
Faites vous aimer Messieurs portez Wear it and make yourself loved gentlemen
C?est la moustachette Petitpois It's the Petitpois Mustachette
H?LO?SE - ORESTE H?LO?SE - ORESTE
C?est la la tou That's all
La moustachette The Petitpois Mustachette
Scene 4 Scene 4
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
(bas ? H?lo?se) (soft to H?lo?se)
Ch?re Mademoiselle H?lo?se, s'il faut porter la Moustachette Dear Miss H?lo?se, if you have to wear the Mustache Petitpois
Petitpois pour ?tre aim?, certes, d?s ce soir, je l'adopte... mais to be loved, of course, from tonight, I'm adopting it... but it will
ce sera pour r?ver de vous? be to dream of you...
71
CUN?GONDE CUN?GONDE
(le tirant par derri?re) (pulling him from behind)
Attention fanfan? Attention boy?
LE DUC LE DUC
(toussant tr?s fort) (coughing loudly)
Hum, hum... Monsieur Petitpois, vous seriez dispos?, me Hum, hum... Monsieur Petitpois, you would be willing, I am
dit-on, ? acqu?rir ce ch?teau? told, to acquire this ch?teau?
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Il faut d'abord visiter, Monsieur le Due...Je n'ach?te pas One has to visit first, Monsieur Le Duc...I'm not buying a castle
ch?teau en poche... (il rit) without having examined it... (he laughs)
ORESTE ORESTE
?a me para?t vieux. Et puis, c'est humide... toute cette eau en Looks old to me. And then, it's damp... all this water at the
bas de l'immeuble, vous direz ce que vous voudrez, ?a n'est bottom of the building, say what you like, it's not healthy?
pas sain?
LE DUC LE DUC
(noblement) (nobly)
Ce sont les douves, Monsieur. It's the moat, sir.
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
?a doit ?tre joliment po?tique, ce parc au clair de lune... It must be pretty poetic, this park in the moonlight...
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Oh oui... surtout dans les coins sombres? Oh yes... especially in dark corners...
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
(le tirant par derri?re) (pulling him from behind)
Attention mon lieutenant? Watch out my lieutenant...
LE DUC LE DUC
(toussant ? nouveau) (coughing again)
Hum, hum... si nous visitions, Monsieur Petitpois? Hum, hum... how about we visit, Monsieur Petitpois?
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Visitons Monsieur le Due. Let's visit Monsieur Le Duc.
3. La galerie des anc?tres 3. The ancestors gallery
LE DUC LE DUC
Admirez ici Messieurs Admire here gentlemen
Quelques portraits de mes a?eux Some portraits of my ancestors
Peints dans le genre cama?eux Painted in the monochrome genre
C?est ce qui se fait de mieux It's the best that is currently being done
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Cr?nom fillette Holy cow, daughter
C?est un peu chouette It?s a little nice
D?avoir des anc?tres To have ancestors
TOUS ALL
D?avoir des anc?tres To have ancestors
LE DUC LE DUC
Voici sur son destrier Here is on his steed
Rodolphe surnomm? Beaupied Rodolphe nicknamed Beaupied
Qui faisait pour son d?ner Who for his dinner
Rotir un sarrasin entier Roasted a whole Saracen
72
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Cr?nom fillette Holy cow, daughter
C?est un peu chouette It?s a little nice
D?avoir des anc?tres To have ancestors
TOUS ALL
D?avoir des anc?tres To have ancestors
LE DUC LE DUC
Voici enfin le plus grand: Here is finally the biggest:
Aimable Charles Adelestan Kind Charles Adelestan
Qui pr?ta onze serments Who took eleven oaths
? diff?rents gouvernements To different governments
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Cr?nom fillette Holy cow, daughter
C?est un peu chouette It?s a little nice
D?avoir des anc?tres To have ancestors
TOUS ALL
D?avoir des anc?tres To have ancestors
LE DUC LE DUC
Du c?l?bre Mar?chal From the famous Mar?chal
Nous n?avions que les initiales We only had the initials
Le peintre eut l?id?e g?niale The painter had the brilliant idea
De repr?senter son cheval To represent his horse
TOUS ALL
D?avoir des anc?tres To have ancestors
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Ah mes enfants Oh my children
Qu?c?est?patant How amazing
D?avoir des anc?tres To have ancestors
(enthousiasm?) (enthusiastic)
Fifille, tu as raison, le local est bigrement po?tique... Little girl, you're right, the premise is mighty poetic...
On va voir plus loin, Monsieur le Duc ? Are we going to see further, Monsieur Le Duc?
LE DUC THE DUKE
Veuillez me suivre... Please follow me?
Scene 5 Scene 5
ORESTE ORESTE
Chic, nous voil? seuls... l?ve ton bibi, bichette, et donne une Finally, here we are alone... raise your hat, my darling, and
bibise ? ton Re-reste... give a kiss to your Re-rest...
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
Tu n'y pense pas, le lieutenant est encore l?? Don't you think about it, the lieutenant is still there...
ORESTE ORESTE
Je m'en tamponne du lieutenant... fais pas ta t?te, Zizi. I don't care about the lieutenant... don't be shy.
(bruit de baiser) (sound of kissing)
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
(furieuse) (furious)
Va devant, tu m'as d?coiff?e, idiot? Go on, you messed my hair, you idiot...
73
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
?a doit ?tre joliment po?tique, ce parc au clair de lune? It must be pretty poetic, this park in the moonlight...
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Me permettez-vous de vous offrir mon bras, mademoiselle Would you allow me to offer you my arm, Mademoiselle
H?lo?se... H?lo?se...
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
Avec plaisir lieutenant... A?e... j'ai une poussi?re dans l'reil? With pleasure lieutenant... Ouch... I have dust in the eye...
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Ah... divine? Oh... divine?
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Visitons Monsieur le Due. Let's visit Monsieur Le Duc.
4. Duo 4. Duo
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
J??tais faite, je vous l?avoue I was made, I admit it to you
Pour de plus gracieuses tendresses, For more gracious tenderness,
Pour le baiser charmant et doux For the charming and sweet kiss
Que l?amour ose avec adresse That love dares with skill
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Rapide et d?licieux aveu Quick and delicious confession
Faut-il donc croire que tu m?aimes Should I believe that you love me
Une larme brille en tes yeux A tear shines in your eyes
Faut-il donc croire que tu m?aimes Should I believe that you love me
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
Pour le sourire un peu r?veur For the slightly dreamy smile
Qu?on ?change ? la d?rob?e That we exchange in secret
Et qui fait d?faillir le coeur And which makes the heart fall
Dans une suave envol?e In a sweet flight
H?LO?SE - ADELESTAN H?LO?SE - ADELESTAN
Ah ne cherchons pas ? savoir Oh let's not try to find out
Si ta main qui fr?le la mienne If your hand that brushes mine
Si ton regard br?lant d?espoir If your gaze burning with hope
Qui veut que le mien le retienne, Wants mine to hold it,
Si ce trouble qui pr?s de toi If this trouble that near you
Me fait soupirer et m?enfi?vre Makes me sigh and makes me feverish
De l?amour experiment le loi Experience the law of love
Ou bien n?est qu?on trop joli r?ve. Or is it just too pretty a dream.
Scene 6 Scene 6
ORESTE ORESTE
Mais qu'est-ce que j'aper?ois ! H?lo?se dans !es bras du But what do I see! H?lo?se in the arms of the horseman!
hussard! (shouting)
(criant) Mon oncle venez voir! ?a vaut la visite! Votre fille qui Uncle come see! It?s worth the trip! Your daughter smooching
se b?cote avec le fils du propri?taire! with the landlord's son!
5. Patatra 5. Patatra
TOUS ALL
Patatras quel d?g?t, quel g?chis Crash what a mess, what a waste
Quel samis, quel souci, What a hodgepodge, what concern,
Pest?, ceci est funeste Plague, this is disastrous
Craignons les fureurs d?Oreste Let us fear the fury of Orestes
74
ORESTE ORESTES
Monsieur le Duc votre fils est un paltoquet Monsieur Le Duc your son is rude!
H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE
Qui l?e?t dit? Who would have said it?
ORESTE - NOTAIRE ORESTE - NOTAIRE
Qui l?e?t cru? Who would've believed that?
TOUS ALL
C?est fini, c?est fini It's over, it's over
Qui l?e?t dit, qui l?e?t cru Who would have said it, who would have believed it
C?est fini, c?est fichu It's over, it's over
H?lo?se perd l?esprit H?lo?se has lost her mind
Adelestan est ?pris Adelestan is in love
PETITPOIS - LE DUC PETITPOIS - LE DUC
Pest ceci est funeste Plague, this is disastrous
Craignons les fureurs d?Oreste Let us fear the fury of Orestes
ORESTE ORESTES
Mon lieutenant, vous ?tes un foutriquet! My lieutenant, you are a nobody!
Scene 8 Scene 8
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Monsieur, ai-je bien ou? vos paroles? Sir, did I hear you correctly?
LE DUC LE DUC
Mettez vos gants lieutenant. Put on your gloves, lieutenant.
ORESTE ORESTE
(hors de lui) (out of control)
Je n'en prendrai pas pour vous annoncer que je m'en vais I wouldn?t want to tell you that I'm going to kick your clownish
flanquer mon pied au derri?re ? votre polichinelle de rejeton! son?s butt!
Cri G?n?ral Cri G?n?ral
TOUS (no Oreste) ALL (No Oreste)
Oreste Oreste
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Ne me trait?tes-vous pas, il y a un instant, de paltoquet? Didn't you call me, a moment ago, a ruffian?
ORESTE ORESTES
(m?me jeu) (same game)
Et de foutriquet, parfaitement, et m?me de polichinelle!\ And a jerk, perfectly, and even of a clown!
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
Monsieur Petitpois, Oreste, si je ne m'abuse, j'ai l'honneur de Monsieur Petitpois, Oreste, if I'm not mistaken, I have the
vous jeter mon gant ? la figure! honor of throwing my glove in your face!
Cri G?n?ral Cri G?n?ral
TOUS (no Adelestan) ALL (No Adelestan)
Adelestanhan! Adelestanhan!
ORESTE ORESTE
(goguenard) (jokingly)
Eh bien, ramassez-le, maintenant! Well, pick it up, now!
75
LE DUC LE DUC
Monsieur, vous ?tes l'offenseur. Sir, you are the offender.
ORESTE ORESTE
(tout ? fait furibard) (completely pissed off)
?a c'est mirobolant! That's amazing!
Il embrasse ma fianc?e clans le cou et c'est moi qui l'offense, He kisses my fianc?e on the neck and it's me who offends him,
cr?nom d'une bobinette ? ressort, c'est un peu fort de caf?! Dammit, that's a bit much to swallow!
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
Je vais me trouver mal... I'm going to faint...
Cri G?n?ral Cri G?n?ral
TOUS (no H?lo?se) ALL (No H?lo?se)
H?lo?se, H?lo?se, H?lo?se H?lo?se, H?lo?se, H?lo?se
LE DUC LE DUC
(obllgeant) (obliging)
Cun?gonde, mettez donc Mademoiselle dans la chaise ? Cun?gonde, put Mademoiselle in the sedan chair? Sir, the
porteur? Monsieur, toujours est-il mais encore que vous avez fact remains that you insulted my son under my roof!
insult? mon fils sous mon toit!
ORESTE ORESTE
(un peu inquiet) (a little worried)
Pas vrai... je ne l'ai pas tutoy?. Not true ... I did not disrespect you.
LE DUC LE DUC
Il est dans notre famille une tradition qui date du tournoi There is a tradition in our family that dates back to the historic
historique entre Ermangard le Mal-Cuit et Luitpol tournament between Ermangard le Mal-Cuit and Luitpol
Longue-Oreille et ? laquelle nous n'avons jamais d?rog? Longue-Oreille and from which we have never departed for
depuis 700 ans. Un La Bombardi?re insult? sous son toit lave 700 years. An insulted La Bombardi?re under his roof washes
l'offense dans un combat sans quartier? away the offense in a fight without quarter?
ORESTE ORESTE
Blgre? Good heavens?
LE DUC LE DUC
Armes: ?p?e ? deux mains et rondache. Le combat se d?roule Weapons: two-handed sword and shield. The fight takes place
sur la plateforme de la Tour Barbe, le vaincu doit sauter dans on the platform of the Tour Barbe, the loser must jump into the
les douves et plonger dans les lentilles. Adelestan? moat and dive into the weeds. Adelestan?
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
j'y suis p?re. I understand.
LE DUC LE DUC
Le cri de guerre: attention... un-deux-trois... The battle cry: attention... one-two-three...
6. Cri de guerre des La Bombardi?re 6. Battle Cry of the Bombardi?re
ADELESTAN - LE DUC ADELESTAN - LE DUC
C?est le cri honte ? qui s?en d?dit It's the cry of shame to those who renounce it
C?est le cri aux lentilles les drilles It's the cry into the weeds of the mercenaries
Aux oubliettes la moustachette Forget the mustachette
? la poivri?re le Notaire At the turret the Notary
Au fond du donjon le patron At the bottom of the dungeon the boss
Au machicoulis le commis In the battlements the clerk assistant
76
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
Bravo. Mais quand m?me les Petitpois ne sont pas faits pour Well done. But still, Petitpois are not made to mix with lentils!
se m?langer avec les lentilles!
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
(affol?) (distraught)
Je ne vois qu'un moyen d'arranger l'affaire, Messieurs? I see only one way to settle the matter, gentlemen...
LE DUC LE DUC
(interrompant et s'?loignant) (interrupting and walking away)
Point, point, point! Sh, sh, sh!
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
(de m?me) (similarly)
Notaire, notez de vous taire! Notary, please keep quiet!
POINTILLARD POINTILLARD
(bas et vite) (low and fast)
Signez l'acte de vente, Mr Petitpois... je l'ai l? tout pr?t... Sign the deed of sale, Mr Petitpois... I have it there all ready...
Vous devenez propri?taire du ch?teau, et la tradition s'?teint, You become the owner of the castle, and the tradition goes out,
c'est simple comme bonjour... it's simple as pie...
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
Signe donc, papa? Sign, dad...
ORESTE ORESTE
Signez mon oncle... Sign, my uncle...
7. Signez, signez, Mr Petitpois 7. Sign, sign, Mr Petitpois
TOUS (no Petitpois) ALL (No Petitpois)
Signez Monsieur Petitpois Sign, Mr. Petitpois
H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE
Vous voyez d?ici notre effroi You see our fear from here
ADELESTAN - ORESTE - NOTAIRE - LE DUC ADELESTAN - ORESTE - NOTAIRE - LE DUC
Ayez soin de votre famille Take care of your family
H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE
Ciel! Le neveu va aux lentilles Heavens! The nephew goes to the weeds
TOUS ALL
Ciel! Le neveu va aux lentilles Heavens! The nephew goes to the weeds
TOUS (no H?lo?se) ALL (no H?lo?se)
O? l?on vous montrera du doigt Where you will be pointed
H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE
Quoi une faible v?tille What a weak trifle
TOUS ALL
Le neveu ira aux lentille The nephew will go to the weeds
ADELESTAN - ORESTE - NOTAIRE ADELESTAN - ORESTE - NOTAIRE
?vitez ce fichou tournois Avoid that damn tournament
H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE H?LO?SE - CUN?GONDE
D?j? le brochet fr?tille Already the pike wriggles
77
TOUS ALL
Signez Monsieur Petitpois Sign, Monsieur Petitpois
Ma?tre enfin sous ce noble toit Master at last under this noble roof
Vous changez l?aspect du quadrille You change the aspect of the dance
Le neveu rira des lentilles The nephew will laugh at weeds
Scene 9 Scene 9
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
C'est bon, je signe, mais je prends le cri de guerre par dessus Ok Ok, I?ll sign, but I?ll take the battle cry on top of the contract.
le march?.
LE DUC LE DUC
Soit, j'y consens. Whatever, I agree.
ADELESTAN ADELESTAN
L'honneur exige une r?paration. j'ai compromis Mademoiselle Honor demands reparation. I compromised Mademoiselle
H?lo?se, Monsieur Petitpois je vous demande sa main? H?lo?se, Monsieur Petitpois I ask you for her hand?
ORESTE ORESTES
Sa main! His hand!
H?LO?SE H?LO?SE
Ah... Adelestan... Ah... Adelestan...
Adelestan ADELESTAN
H?lo?se! H?lo?se!
ORESTE ORESTES
Et v'Ian, elle retombe dans les bras du hussard... mais c'est And there it is, she falls back into the arms of the horseman...
une manie, ma parole... it's a habit, my word!?
Tenez, mon oncle, je la plante l?, moi, votre H?lo?se... Here, uncle, I'm leaving her there, your H?lo?se...
J'?pouserai Th?odora des Bretelles M?phistoph?l?s, elle ne I will marry Th?odora of the M?phistopheles Suspenders, she
peut pas voir les militaires en peinture. cannot stand the sight of soldiers.
PETITPOIS PETITPOIS
(furieux) (mad)
Tu nous quittes pour les Bretelles M?phistoph?l?s? Je te Are you leaving us for the M?phistopheles Suspenders? I deny
renie, tra?tre ! you, traitor!
LE DUC LE DUC
Cette douce H?lo?se fera, ma foi, une charmante duchesse! This sweet H?lo?se will make a charming duchess! Come on...
AIlons... ne te trouve pas mal... don't think you're bad...
Regarde Rodolphe sur son destrier... Quand on a des Look at Rodolphe on his steed... When you have ancestors,
anc?tres, saquerlotte... faut de la. tenue... Soyons vieille good gracious... you must look presentable... Let's be old
France, nom de nom... je paye le champagne ? toute la France, for crying out loud... I'm buying champagne for
soci?t?? Vive la vie de ch?teau, y a que ?a de beau! everyone... Long live castle life, it's the only beautiful thing!
8. Final 8. Final
TOUS ALL
En achetant ce ch?teau By buying this castle
Il fait sa fille duchesse He makes his daughter a duchess
Il tir? d?affaire le nigaud He bails out the simpleton
Et entre dans la noblesse And enters the nobility
LE DUC - PETITPOIS LE DUC - PETITPOIS
Ah mes enfants qu?est ?patant d?avoir des anc?tres Ah my children, how amazing to have ancestors
TOUS ALL
Ah mes enfants qu?est ?patant d?avoir des anc?tres Ah my children, how amazing to have ancestors
78
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